Harry Belafonte is a hero to many, together with Fratello reader Billy Denty. That is for good motive. A profitable musician who offered greater than 3,000,000 albums, he was additionally a person of immense social conscience. He led a outstanding life, and as we speak, thanks to 1 Fratello reader, we get to see Belafonte’s Wyler watch up shut.
You have got most likely heard of Harry Belafonte’s work, even in the event you’re unfamiliar along with his identify. Born in 1927, Belafonte began his profession in music as a membership singer in New York to pay for his appearing courses. He’d been impressed to take up appearing when, working as a janitor’s assistant, he obtained two tickets to the American Negro Theatre. Belafonte fell in love with the artwork type of appearing and have become pals with Sidney Poitier. The pair was struggling financially, so they’d purchase a single seat to native performs, buying and selling spots between acts after giving one another the primary half of the plot of the play they had been seeing.
The inspiring lifetime of Harry Belafonte
On the finish of the Nineteen Forties, Belafonte took courses in appearing on the Dramatic Workshop of The New College in New York Metropolis alongside the likes of fellow actors Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, and Poitier. Belafonte would go on to win a Tony Award for his participation within the Broadway piece John Murray Anderson’s Almanac (1954).
By 1954, Belafonte had already been working as a membership singer to assist pay for his appearing profession. The primary time he appeared in entrance of an viewers, he was backed by none apart from the Charlie Parker band, which included jazz legends Charlie Parker, Max Roach, and Miles Davis.
Early music successes
Belafonte’s first extensively launched single, which went on to grow to be his signature audience-participation tune, was “Matilda.” It was recorded in 1953. Round this time, Belafonte starred within the movie Carmen Jones (1954). However it was his breakthrough album, Calypso (1956), that may go on to have the widest business success.
Calypso grew to become the primary LP on the earth to promote greater than 1,000,000 copies in a 12 months. The album spent 31 weeks at primary, 58 weeks within the prime 10 within the UK, and 99 weeks on the US charts. It additionally launched audiences all over the world to calypso music (therefore the identify of the album), which traces its origins to the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago within the early 1800s. Belafonte’s success on this subject popularized Caribbean music worldwide by hits like “Day-O” (often known as the “Banana Boat Tune”) and “Leap within the Line.”
How one Fratello reader got here throughout Harry Belafonte’s Wyler watch
Watch fanatic Billy Denty is a big fan of Harry Belafonte’s work. In truth, he grew as much as the tunes of Calypso in addition to a number of different Belafonte albums. “Harry Belafonte’s music has all the time had a particular place in my life. I can nonetheless image these summer season afternoons — my household and I by the pool, his voice carrying by the air, filling the yard with rhythm and heat. These songs grew to become the soundtrack of my childhood,” he stated.
So when a chance to buy a watch owned by the musician reared its head sooner or later, Denty jumped on the likelihood. “I got here throughout this watch at an public sale. I’m an enormous fan of Harry’s music. Harry was the soundtrack of my childhood summers, and I used to be seeking to purchase my father one thing. I purchased this watch as a form of memento — a small however significant reminder of these good instances and an emblem of the love and laughter I shared with my mother and father whereas rising up. Now, because the years cross and life strikes sooner, I discover myself reminiscing extra typically. There are days after I want I may rewind time, return to these carefree moments when the longer term felt extensive open and something appeared attainable.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, his spouse Coretta Scott King (proper), and Harry Belafonte (middle) marching close to Montgomery, Alabama, on March twenty fourth, 1965 — Picture: Related Press
A troublesome time for the US
Belafonte’s lengthy life crisscrossed over many elements of US historical past, not least of which was the tumultuous push and fierce struggle for civil rights. Belafonte would grow to be a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and he performed a job in serving to fund and help the civil rights motion, together with the 1963 March on Washington. Blacklisted throughout the reactionary McCarthy period and the 1963 Birmingham marketing campaign, Belafonte bailed King out of the Birmingham jail in Alabama and raised $50,000 to launch different civil rights protesters. This was a pure however courageous step for Belafonte to take. He had been one of many first black main males in Hollywood.
Belafonte would later grow to be a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, championing international humanitarian causes. This included famine aid internationally and preventing apartheid in South Africa. In 2022, he obtained the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A watch collector’s journey
Belafonte had already made a big impact on Fratello reader Billy Denty when he got here throughout the Wyler watch at public sale. However Denty’s journey as a watch fanatic started when he was simply 12 years outdated. “It began with my grandfather’s Omega. As somebody with extreme ADHD, I used to be continuously getting kicked out of sophistication for my disruptions. I used my grandfather’s watch to calm myself down and depend the seconds. One in all my lecturers talked about that Omega was an costly watch, and I ought to perform a little research… Then, increase, like a spark, the watch obsession hit me,” he stated.
“Recently, I’ve been sticking with a smaller, extra significant assortment — my first Rolex, my grandfather’s Omega, and some different memory-filled watches.”
Appreciating a classic Wyler watch
Placing apart the truth that that is Harry Belafonte’s Wyler watch, Denty additionally appreciates it as a chunk of design. “I just like the date window, which I consider to be customized since I haven’t discovered one other Incaflex with that date window. The dial’s diamond sample makes it catch the sunshine, and the gold markers pop. I get pleasure from the truth that the unique strap is so worn, that means he bought plenty of use out of this watch. His design components had been elegant however not bodacious,” he stated. The watch, certainly, is comparatively humble in the very best approach.
The case again has the phrases “Harry Belafonte from Vic Wyler” in addition to the date “1-3-62.” Vic Wyler was, on the time, the top of the Wyler watch firm. The date is Belafonte’s birthday, so it appears pure to suppose that the watch was a present from Wyler to Belafonte for his birthday in 1962.
The Wyler Watch Co.
Admittedly, Wyler is a watch model I knew little about earlier than this function. Paul and Victor Wyler based the Paul Wyler & Cie watchmaking manufacturing unit in Basel in 1924. Three years later, Wyler patented a versatile steadiness able to absorbing shocks, the Incaflex. In 1931, to show the effectiveness of its anti-shock system, a Wyler watch was thrown from the highest of the Eiffel Tower. Apparently, the watch continued to run usually.
There may be rather more to Wyler, and you’ll examine it right here. Based on the unique public sale itemizing, the watch has a 31mm 10K-gold-filled case. The palms and hour markers are additionally gold.
An opportunity encounter with the person himself
Earlier than proudly owning the Wyler watch, it seems that Denty met Belafonte as soon as. “I met Harry years in the past at a school occasion,” he stated. “He wrote a guide about civil rights, and we had an meeting about it. After the speech, I approached him whereas he was speaking to some college. I instructed him I used to be an enormous fan, and jokingly, in a raspy voice, he stated, ‘Oh, yeah? Identify two songs,’ so I did, and he replied, ‘Man, you could be the youngest individual in right here who is aware of who I’m.’ It was a cool second for me.
Denty solely knew of Belafonte by his music earlier than shopping for the Wyler watch. This rapidly modified after he acquired it. “To be sincere, apart from his music, I didn’t know a lot about Harry’s accomplishments earlier than proudly owning this watch. This man achieved a lot in his lifetime. I even realized that we shared the identical favourite snack — Ritz crackers and cream cheese. The person was a legend. What’s cool to me is that the watch witnessed plenty of it. If it may inform a narrative, it could sing a tune! And the truth that I could be part of this journey and write the subsequent chapter for this watch (it most likely gained’t be as fascinating) is an unimaginable privilege.”
Concluding ideas
Belafonte handed away on April twenty fifth, 2023, on the grand age of 96. He was actually somebody whose accomplishments are too lengthy to checklist right here, and his dedication to civil rights was steadfast to the top.
It’s great to have the ability to share these tales with you, our readers, and to rejoice the lifetime of a person who labored tirelessly to enhance the lives of others, all whereas carrying a cool Wyler watch on his wrist.
