SJX Watches
Complicated Collectors: J. B. Champion Jr.
On October 25, 1967, Joe Ben “J. B.” Champion Jr. sat silently through the murder trial of a client named E. K. Bearden. It was the second time the prominent Texas defence attorney had conducted himself in this fashion in just a few months, claiming he had “used time to [his] advantage” during the trial. But no great strategy emerged and both clients were found guilty. Champion’s mysterious behaviour was concerning for a man who once objected to being called a “pretty good” lawyer, retorting “Pretty good? I’m the best!” The apparent carelessness of his courtroom antics contradict the fastidious elements of his personality that are apparent from his single-minded approach to watch collecting. Ardmore to Dallas Champion was born on August 16, 1917 in Dallas, Texas. His father’s oil royalties left him independently wealthy; he never needed to practise law to support himself, but did so anyway. Friends attributed it to the same competitive streak that had made him a regionally ranked tennis player before he turned to the courtroom. He stood an imposing six-foot-two inches by one account, and was accustomed to winning. He studied law at the University of Oklahoma and joined the family firm, Champion, Champion and Wallace, in Ardmore, commuting from a townhouse in Dallas. The Chateaubriand restaurant in Dallas. Image – SJX composite/Wikimedia By all accounts, he was a punctual man, and his evenings ran on a schedule as fixed as anything at the Geneva Obse...
