An introduction and a thank you....

[Jake B]

Hey guys.. I joined in on this forum in a particularly difficult time, and I don't think I gave a proper intro. This is something I posted on a couple of forums that I've frequented for quite a few years, and I'll share it here. I don't know if any of you ever knew my friend Noah or I, but...

Hi fellas,

I've felt a little bit disconnected from you guys lately, and I'd like to re-connect.

My name's Jake B, and I've been around on these forums for around 6 years now. I'll give you a bit of my back-ground.

When I first became a member here, I owned a few Seikos that I'd inherited from my grandfather after he passed away, as well as a few pieces that he'd passed down to me that were family heirlooms...An old Omega pocketwatch, and a couple of railroad watches that were owned by my ancestors. The Omega was especially dear to me since my great uncle Andrew died on the J.R. Booth log-drive in Canada in the early days while carrying it...They later fished it, and him, out of the river, and restored the watch. My grandpa gave me that watch, and he always showed me the Rolex ads in the local paper for the Explorer and told me about how he wanted one. After that, I cut all the ads out of the local papers and I used to give them to him, and tell him that those were my gifts.

I went through a lot of hard times after that in my life. I moved to Northern Ontario, and I didn't like it. I worked very hard at a young age, and also partied hard. Life in Northern Canada is not always easy. I spent a long time trying to figure out just who I was...a Southern guy in a Northern world.. I worked as a cook, a general laborer, a demolitions exptert, a landscaper, a high-tech manufacturing assembler, I took my college courses and welded, I worked in the post office...but the whole time, I loved watches.

My grandfather died in 2005, and left me his watches. At that time, I decided that no matter what, I would find a way to do what I loved, learn as much as I could about watches, and try to make my own. I bought as many junkers as I could, and saved all my spare cash to buy watch tools, while I lived with my 85 year old grandmother, taking care of her, all the time with thoughts of my grandfather inspiring me. At that time, there were not many custom watches around, but I loved them and the idea. I bought my first custom watch from a very well respected company, and though...."Why can't I do this myself?".

In 2006, I started to talk with Noah Fuller, another Canadian who had just moved to Hong Kong. We bacame best of friends right away, talking skype, emails, and he supported me and my learning more than I could ever have wished for. He encouraged me to organize WIS meets, do demos, promotions, and pushed me to a whole new level.

Fast forward to 2009..I was at a crux. Noah offered me to come to join him, offered full support, a place to live, all his knowledge, his friendship, his connections. He told me, "Come to Hong Kong, try it out for three months, I will go on a tour of the USA and you will take full control. It seemed scary, but I knew it was a once in a lifetime chance. It took me ONE day to give him an answer and tell him "YES, I will be there in one month."

On July 4th, 2009 I arrived in Hong Kong with a suitcase and $3000. Noah took care of me like a brother and showed me everything he knew. He left me in charge, and when he returned we lived our lives like we'd known each other for our whole lives. I have a brother who I love dearly, and I loved Noah just the same. Noah introduced me to my girlfriend, who is now my wife...I thank him for this everyday. He trusted me and showed faith in me like no one other than a brother can. We worked hard, and together we realized the coming of the Tsunami, the realization of Noah's dream.

A few days after the first Tsunami was made, Noah broke his collarbone during a rugby game. He was placed on some heavy pain-killing meds, as you would expect. A few days later, he had stomach problems, which were attributed to the meds. He saw a few doctors. He was in a lot of pain. Within a week, it was apparent that he needed the hospital. After tests at the hospital, they found that he had a very large tumour in his gut. They removed it immediately and suggested he go back to Canada to receive treatment for CANCER.

For one year, we received fantastic support from all of you in the watch community, while Noah, fully aware of how serious it may be, toured the USA, Canada, and the EU. We hoped he would return, but he didn't. After a few surgeries and attempts to save his life by the Canadian health care system, who did a fantastic job to keep him comfortable and supported him through the ordeal, he passed away on April 13th, 2011.

Since then, I've tried to continue the legacy, and I'm doing my best to help all of you who are fans of Noah and our work, and the load is great. I'm happy to say that my brother in law has now become a part of the team, and I have a daughter on the way. I'd like to extend my greatest thanks to all the folks in the watch community who have been our friends through everything, and tell you that it is my mission to continue and strive to work in the spirit of my best friend's legacy.

When it all comes down to it, we were always, and I'll continue to be just a guy who loves watches and wants to share that with everyone. In the future, there will be some change, and I hope you can bear with me while I work through it, and know that I stand behind everything I do, as if I'm standing behind my friend as well.



EDIT: I've just added a pic of my Sub. Noah told me that he would come back to HK when he got better, we would both get no-date Subs, and we'd ride through Vietnam by motorcycle. When he knew he would not come back, he told me to make sure that I got that Sub and take the trip...I got the Sub 2 days before he passed and couldn't tell him. The trip to 'Nam is pending.

Jake B