A Note from the Owner
Watches have always been a big part of my family, though I never really knew why. A watch was a cherished gift, even though it was one that was given often. By the time I was in college, I had 10 or so watches. Some of them needed a new band, some of them needed a battery replaced, but I loved having them all.
I always knew my father had dozens of watches. Most of them worked, some didn’t, but even a broken watch just didn’t seem like something you should throw away. He was given his first watch when he was 10 years old. At the time, a watch for a boy was a coming of age gift of sorts, the giver telling the boy through the gift that he was old enough and responsible enough to care for a watch. For as long as I knew, he always had several pocket watches, though I’d never seen him carry one. Dozens of wristwatches fill a drawer, though I never knew him to wear a watch unless he was dressed up for some special occasion. Strangely, my father never needs a watch. He has an uncanny ability to know the time of day within just a couple minutes (usually, to the minute). No, not by looking at the sun... he just knows.
My love of watches seems to follow from a greater genealogical history than just a passion passed on from father to son, though certainly that played a big role. My Great-Grandfather, Ludwig Krähe, was a watchmaker in Poland in the late 1800’s. My Great Uncle ran the shop when Ludwig passed away. His little brother Oscar, my Grandfather, was often at his side to help with the shop. Oscar became an adept tool and dye maker, and moved back to his homeland Germany after he met the love of his life in Poland, Margaret Schlessner.
Having lived through the difficulties of World War II in Germany, they and their then 4 children moved to the United States in the 1950's. My mother, their only daughter, carried on with watches for a short time herself, working in the watch repair section of a major department store.
With well over 100 years of family history in watches and watch making, I proudly reintroduce the Krähe name, where this history began, to the world of fine watches.
Micah A Rousey
Owner of Krähe
Copyright Krähe Watches 2008