Otoyomegatari - Vol. 11 Ch. 76 - The Watch
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The story of the watch is nice but you can see the negative side of polygamy there. A husband loves his new wife so much that he neglects his first wife and then his first wife, because of jealousy, stole the watch in hope that the husband would hate his new wife for losing it.
On the other hand, I thought a British crest would be different from Russian crest.
On the other hand, I thought a British crest would be different from Russian crest.
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@Sternberg So true, it's competing with Hakumei&Mikochi though
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It's actually nice that, even just a bit, Mori touched on some aspects of polygamy and divorce.
Man, the watch probably knows more than I do now :'D
Man, the watch probably knows more than I do now :'D
@orochijes That story would be Gift of the Magi, or its numerous spinoffs. If you're a fan of D&D, you might also want to review the comic The Unity of Rings, from 1996, which is rather similar to this chapter.
@mikegnesium I was wondering too, so I did some poking around... As I recall, we're looking at pre-WWI Khazakstan, which would mean it's probably the Khazak Khanate, around 1910. *on hold, approximately 20min* And wow, there is basically no useful info here. http://www.nationalbank.kz/cont/publish297739_4904.pdf made for interesting reading, but has basically nothing about historical exchange rates. So I went for a different angle-- the forum thread at https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/original-pocket-watch-prices-1880-1900.117411/ talks about the price of watches and there's an ad from 1911 for a gold-filled (not really gold; approximately 5% gold content, as opposed to a quality working watch being 18k/75%) watch for 26USD, which, adjusted for inflation, is a little under 750USD today. That's ~6400NOK. For a fake gold watch.
@mikegnesium I was wondering too, so I did some poking around... As I recall, we're looking at pre-WWI Khazakstan, which would mean it's probably the Khazak Khanate, around 1910. *on hold, approximately 20min* And wow, there is basically no useful info here. http://www.nationalbank.kz/cont/publish297739_4904.pdf made for interesting reading, but has basically nothing about historical exchange rates. So I went for a different angle-- the forum thread at https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/original-pocket-watch-prices-1880-1900.117411/ talks about the price of watches and there's an ad from 1911 for a gold-filled (not really gold; approximately 5% gold content, as opposed to a quality working watch being 18k/75%) watch for 26USD, which, adjusted for inflation, is a little under 750USD today. That's ~6400NOK. For a fake gold watch.
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@Harvester It's set before 1910, many people think it is in the 1870s
I've actually found good info on the price of a 14k watch in 1897-- about 25-60$, depending on the size, movement, and labor. Good ol' Sears Catalog! https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31158001963940;view=1up;seq=414;size=125
If we operate on the assumption that there's a direct relationship between currency values and PPP per capita, and trust the valuations given for a period where solid data is missing, and also just use the region of eastern Europe for 1870... (so many caveats this number may as well be worthless)... you end up with about a 3.1:1 ratio to the US.
Edit: As a point of reference, you could get over 250 pounds of bacon, delivered, for 25$. More, if you lived closer to the midwest. According to Southern Living, a pound of bacon is about 5.50 now, or 1375$ worth. It's actually kind of tough to find conventional sources for new solid gold pocket watches (at least, while eating), but among more reputable sources, there are some in the 900$ range. Congratulations: The market value of bacon held better than that of a cheap gold watch. ? (Okay, not really, but it sounds funny.)
If we operate on the assumption that there's a direct relationship between currency values and PPP per capita, and trust the valuations given for a period where solid data is missing, and also just use the region of eastern Europe for 1870... (so many caveats this number may as well be worthless)... you end up with about a 3.1:1 ratio to the US.
Edit: As a point of reference, you could get over 250 pounds of bacon, delivered, for 25$. More, if you lived closer to the midwest. According to Southern Living, a pound of bacon is about 5.50 now, or 1375$ worth. It's actually kind of tough to find conventional sources for new solid gold pocket watches (at least, while eating), but among more reputable sources, there are some in the 900$ range. Congratulations: The market value of bacon held better than that of a cheap gold watch. ? (Okay, not really, but it sounds funny.)
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Mr. Smiff the Curious, Tsar of Russia.
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I'm always so fond of this little story of the watch- it winding up with Sufi pilgrims always cracks me up. I grew up with a lot of Sufi stories for this and that reason. Inshallah, this watch's story could have wound up a story I got told as a kid!
