Black and grey realism tattoo of an open pocket watch with a chain and Roman numerals, placed on a man's upper chest and shoulder.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Pocket watch tattoo on upper chest

Realism · Chest · Black and grey · Photo

A realistic pocket watch with its hunter case open, hanging from a looped chain that trails across the shoulder. The face has Roman numerals, hands and a small seconds dial, with fine shading on the metal case and soft grey tones on the dial. Only black and grey ink is used, and a second, partly visible tattoo sits on the upper arm and shoulder at the edge of the frame.

Realism Chest Shoulder Pocket watch Chain Clock Roman numeral

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Our Mr Hollis brought the watch in on a wet Thursday, wrapped in a handkerchief the colour of weak tea, and he would not let go of the chain until my father had weighed it in his palm twice. Hunter cases are a deal of trouble. The lid snaps shut on a hinge that has to be coaxed, and the Roman numerals have to be read backwards by anyone standing across the counter, which is most people. My father liked that. He said it made a customer lean in.

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Hollis wanted four shillings and a promise. He said he would be back by Saturday, when his brother's train came in from Leeds. Saturday came and then the Saturday after, and the ticket stayed in the drawer under the scales. I wound the watch every Monday because my father said a thing left unwound forgets how to go. The seconds dial ticked small and certain beneath my thumb, and I used to think it was counting down to something.

In March a clerk from the railway came in with a sealed envelope and a sorry face. The brother had not come from Leeds. He had stepped off the 4.10 at a crossing outside Barnsley and gone no further. Father read the letter twice, then took the ticket out of the drawer and set it on the counter between us. We both looked at the chain looped over the brass, the case hanging open as though it had been caught mid-sentence.

I could not bring myself to sell it. I still wind it on Mondays, and I set the hands to whatever hour the shop bell rings when someone comes in asking for a loan. The watch keeps good time. It has never once been late for anything it was owed.