I read a short story in English circa 1980-85 (although it may have been published much earlier) about a boy who carries an expensive pocket watch (perhaps inherited) but keeps getting in schoolyard fights, breaking the glass watch cover. After the first time his mother is so disappointed or upset that all the times after that he opts to go to the watchmaker by himself and pay his own money to replace the glass so she doesn't have to know.
The story seems to be set when pocket watches are still common enough that a watchmaker would have the materials on hand to fix it without it having to be left, but if I recall correctly it's still considered unusual for this boy to have the watch, either due to his age or due to pocket watches being on their way out... and maybe he keeps getting in fights because of the watch. I'm pretty sure I read the story in an anthology and not in a magazine.
