Page 294 of the book further tells the story directly from the Dalai Lama:

"This is from Tolstoy and Dolan," he said as he put a box in my hands.

Inside was a gold Patek Philippe watch, which showed the phases of the moon and the days of the week."Well Roosevelt certainly had nice taste," I said. "How old were you when you received this from President Roosevelt?" I asked"

"I was seven or eight," he said.

"Has it been repaired?"

"Several times, " he said with an embarrassed smile. By the time his brother left for China, in 1946, accompanying a Tibetan delegation, who went to offer congratulations to India's colonial government and to China on their victory in the war, the timepiece already needed repairs. Even a Patek couldn't hold up to the wear and tear from young Tenzin Gyatso.

"Then after that, on one occasion in Lhasa," the Dalai Lama said, "I had it stay in my pocket and I also had a strong magnet. I was working on the movie projector. So the watch went out for repair again," he noted sheepishly. It was even out for repairs in Switzerland in 1959, when he fled Lhasa the last time. Regular maintenance is the reason he has the watch today.

He joked about the checkered history of Roosevelt's gift. "It seems that this watch has made the prayer that it will never be in the hands of the Chinese!" the Dalai Lama laughed.