The Watch Industry

Collectibles are usually kept under lock and key for safekeeping. Kenneth Jacobs sells collectibles that people wear on their wrists.

Jacobs sells vintage, wind-up wristwatches from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Made obsolete by modern day electronic quartz watches, the old-fashioned mechanical watches have become a popular collectors item.

More recently, however, more and more consumers are wearing these watches instead of storing them away. Jacobs--owner of the Wanna Buy a Watch store on Melrose Avenue--says the most popular models are those made for men by such American watchmakers as Bulova, Hamilton, Elgin and Waltham--all of which no longer make watches in the United States. Hamilton has even brought out replicas of its older watches, priced at nearly $300. The real vintage watches, after being restored, sell for between $250 and $350--though they are more fragile than their contemporaries.

These classic timepieces have even won over those who were previously turned off by watches “and the implied regularity,” said Jacobs. “We have had people come in who have not worn a watch since their bar mitzvah.”

For those with a passion for timepieces, a visit to the Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia, Pa., might be in order. Founded by the National Assn. of Watch & Clock Collectors, the 10-year-old museum boasts a 10,000-item collection, including a nearly 400-year-old mechanical watch, a watch owned by a sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the world’s first electric watches and a 10-foot-tall pendulum clock. The museum is also home to a horologic library of 2,300 books and 19th Century trade journals. “There is so much variety here you never get bored,” said museum program director Jed Kensinger.

Who would want to pay $250,000 for an 80-foot-high, 78,000-pound Swatch watch? Not many people, apparently.

Made at a cost of about $1 million, the world’s largest working wristwatch stood over the Swiss pavilion at Expo ’86 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The giant Swatch, built by Eta, a Swiss company that also makes the smaller versions, was put on the selling block last summer after Expo came to an end.

After calls from shopping center developers, amusement park operators and some Las Vegas hotels, the only serious bids came from individuals in Texas and Saudi Arabia, says Michael Abson, a Swatch promotions executive in Switzerland. But those deals fell through, and the giant Swatch now sits in a Vancouver warehouse. The watch is supposed to travel to a trade fair in Brisbane, Australia, next year. But it is still for sale.

The price? “Make me an offer,” Abson said.

The movement to make wristwatches more fashionable has also swept into the clock business. Don Scott, marketing director for Ted’s Clock Emporium Inc., a chain of Southern California clock stores, says customers “are more interested in how it (the clock) will fit into the decor instead of accuracy.”

Wall clocks used to come in either black, white or wood grain. Now, they are available in a wide range of colors, from bright red to chrome to muted pastels. Grandfather clocks--opened up to show-off shiny weights, chains and pendulums--have moved from entry ways to prominent positions in living rooms. And the people who brought you the colorful Swatch watch now offer a wall clock version.

Novelty clocks are also popular. One line of alarm clocks come shaped liked tennis and soccer balls. To silence a ringing tennis ball clock, just bounce it off a table or wall.