Black and grey realism tattoo of an open pocket watch with a clover and blackletter text reading et virtute, on an upper arm.

Pocket watch and clover on upper arm

Realism · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A detailed pocket watch with Arabic numerals and a chain sits at the centre, with its lid open and a shaded case edge. A clover leaf and a band of blackletter text reading et virtute fill the lower right of the piece. The work is in black ink and greys, with soft shading and highlights that give the metal a rounded, three-dimensional look.

Realism Lettering Upper arm Pocket watch Clock Clover Lettering Chain

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Ada laid her father's watch on the piano lid where the band could see it, lid open, the chain pooled beside it like something spilt. Ten to eleven, the hands said, and the Palais was still three-quarters full of shuffling wool coats and cheap scent. Nobody had asked her to keep time. She had simply stood up when the bandleader lost his place and said the floor ought to be ended properly.

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Her father had carried that watch through two pits and one war, and he had never once let it run slow. Et virtute, the back said, in letters so black they looked wet. By virtue. He used to say it meant you did the thing you could do and let the clock do the rest.

The last waltz was her idea. She counted the bars under her breath, the way he had counted shifts, and when the lights came up halfway a boy from the bakery crossed the floor and asked her to dance. She said she had to watch the hands first. He waited, cap turning in both fists, while the second hand crept round past the eight and the clover of cigarette smoke drifted under the chandeliers.

At midnight the band struck the final chord, and Ada snapped the lid shut on the small, certain click she had been listening for all evening. The room emptied in a rush of coats and laughter. She pressed the warm watch into the boy's palm and told him to hold it for her, and he laughed at her, and she let him.