Ed Grigor of New York finds missing gold watch after 53 years

Sometimes good things do come around for those who wait. Case in point: New York's Ed Grigor, who got a call from a guy named Mark in Las Vegas last month saying he'd found a valuable gold wristwatch with Grigor's name on it, according to the Press & Sun-Bulletin. 

The precious watch went missing in 1959 after Grigor accidently left it unattended at the Virginia Navy base he was stationed at, said the Associated Press. 

Presumably, he was pretty bummed out about the loss — he had worn the watch proudly since he was given it upon completing high school, said the Press & Sun. 

But when Grigor listened to the message left by stranger Mark at his Endicott, New York, home, he couldn't quite believe his luck. “And coming from Vegas," Grigor said he thought "it must be hoax.”

He didn't even want to call back, but his wife did. She reached a woman named Pat, said the Press & Sun, adding: 

"When Pat told him it’s a Boliva with his name and '6/12/58' engraved on the back, Ed almost dropped the phone."

The watch had been found among items sailors had pawned at a relative's guest house in Virginia Beach, said AP.

Grigor was thrilled to get it back. “Taking the watch out of the package, I held it for the first time in over 53 years with tears of joy in my eyes,” he told Press & Sun.  

“Over more than half a century, the watch traveled from Edwardsville, Pa. to Memphis, Tenn., to a Navy base in Virginia, possibly to a Navy ship to some overseas locations, back to Virginia Beach, Va., to Las Vegas, Nev., and finally back to me in Endicott,” Grigor told Press & Sun.

“It was truly a Time Traveler.”