I was cleaning out an abandoned storage box for a friend when I found an old wooden cigar box full of jewelry.

Just the way it was tangled together, dirty, and wasn’t sparkling, I could tell it was junk. I still felt that I should go through it all to make doubly sure no treasures were hiding in there.

There were dozens of chains that took me about an hour to untangle. Then I could see the remaining contents. All of it seemed to be a generation away from being in style. Women’s watches, bracelets, and rings. They were styles that my mom wore in the ’70s.

There was a large man’s watch among the girly things. It was silver – in color at least. Not a shiny silver, but it was probably just as dirty as the rest of the contents. When I wiped off the smudges on the watch face, I saw some small writing. I fumbled in my desk drawer for a magnifying glass to verify the word I thought I read. Yep, that was it.

ROLEX

Of course, it had to be a fake. There was nothing special about it. No fanciness, no elegance whatsoever. And there was the fact that it looked perfectly at home in a wooden box with tangled junk jewelry. Still… on the back, it said “Swiss Made” and had that Rolex symbol the face had.

Hubby knew a watchmaker, and he took the watch to his shop. I caught myself pacing. I was anxious to find out about the watch. Was I rich, or not? The suspense was excruciating. In just 24 hours, I spent the money ten different ways. Some ways were noble, some were selfish, and one was completely ridiculous.

The fantasy was squashed when hubby reported that upon removing the back of the watch, he and the watchmaker could read other words. Words you would not find in a legitimate Rolex. Words in fine print, like “Parts made in China.”

Grrrrr!