On the Road, Cleveland, Ohio – Part I

The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors held its annual convention in downtown Cleveland this year and gave us a special invitation to visit the convention’s “Mart.” The Mart is open only to association members, although guests are welcome at all convention lectures and other events. Convention-goers enjoyed lectures, meetings, a clock auction, and city sites like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Great Lakes Science Center. Of course, there was a lot of trading and buying in all the hotel rooms during the convention.

Many members told us it was unfortunate the Mart sales floor was not open to the public. Sales would have been better and the association could have gained new members. The room was a sea of tables with thousands of watches, clocks, clock parts, clock keys, watch bands, and books about clocks for sale. Some funky horological items, including figurines, empty watch boxes, postcards picturing clock towers, grandfather clock cookie jars, “tell-time” toys, and more, could be found. A dealer said there were two kinds of buyers-those looking for jewelry and those interested in the mechanics of the clock or watch.

We saw a group of Atmos clocks and wanted to learn more about them. The fascinating handmade Swiss Atmos is as close to a perpetual-motion machine as anything that now exists. It’s powered by a mixture of gas and liquid that expands and contracts. The dealer told us he had sold 11 at $450 to $500 each. These were average pre-owned clocks. Broken Atmos clocks are expensive to repair and those with glass-vial parts filled with mercury cannot be repaired. The highest-priced Atmos clocks are those numbered under 5,000; one could be worth up to $40,000.

Too high-priced? You could get a kitchen clock with a china face for $35 to $55. A Seth Thomas wooden tambour mantel clock with a quarter-hour strike was $65, and a Waterbury clock in a gothic case was the same price. Wooden cuckoo clocks were $95 and up. Lady Liberty was part of the case of a brass clock that was $275.

to be continued…