When site visitors dies down on Avarampalayam Road, the ‘tick, tock’ of over 50 clocks envelops Time Star Vintage Clocks. The cramped 10 x 10 store is roofed wall-to-wall with vintage mechanical clocks, a few of them over 120 years outdated. Aseef Ismail, the proprietor, is seated by his worktable inside, surrounded by bins overflowing with instruments and different paraphernalia. The 59-year-old is among the many handful of individuals within the metropolis who can restore mechanical clocks, and has a diversified assortment of over 100 vintage clocks.
Aseef Ismail additionally collects vintage clocks.
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M
Aseef’s store has been within the neighbourhood for 35 years, and he has been surrounded by clocks all his life. His grandfather, who had his roots in Kerala, based the favored P Mohamed & Co within the Fifties within the metropolis. “He was the authorised dealer of the Japanese Seikosha clocks,” says Aseef. As was the apply again then, the clocks that Mohamed offered had his institution’s title handwritten on the decrease finish of the dial.
Most Seikosha clocks from town bear his title, and Aseef owns one too. “A customer had brought it in for servicing. When I told him it was from my grandfather’s shop, he wanted me to have it,” he smiles. Aseef’s father Ismail discovered the nuts and bolts of servicing clocks at P Mohamed & Co, finally opening his personal watch service outlet. When Aseef was in his early teenagers, he would peer over his father’s shoulder when he labored, steadily taking within the nuances.
Aseef Ismail has a group of over 100 mechanical clocks
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M
“He would bring home clocks that needed special care,” recollects Aseef, who took after him after finishing his bachelor’s in Economics. Today, after nearly 4 many years of servicing clocks, Aseef works 18 hours a day. “Once I close the shop at 10pm, I go back home and start work again after a quick dinner,” he says.
Aseef’s obsession with clocks has resulted in him turning a clockmaker. He is now crafting a weight-driven clock that he’s making with chains from a motorbike’s engine. It will take a number of hours of labor till it’s useful, and Aseef tweaks it at any time when he has time.
Some of Aseef’s clocks are over 120 years outdated
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M
He talks fondly of mechanical clocks. “They are now being made only in European countries,” he says. “Most households in India had these clocks in the past. If the owners had taken care of them, there would be one at every home even today.” His assortment has manufacturers equivalent to Seikosha, Seth Thomas, Waterbury…he even has a 120-year-old chiming clock, and a 60-year-old cuckoo clock he wouldn’t half with it doesn’t matter what.
Watch collectors from close to and much carry their valuable items to him to get them mounted. “Sometimes, it takes weeks to get these running,” he says. Given the clocks’ antiquity, Aseef will get some spare elements made at lathe workshops.
The weight-based clock that Aseef is constructing.
| Photo Credit:
PERIASAMY M
He owns 30 watches, and may speak for hours about clocks and the tiny wheels and is derived that kind their beating coronary heart. “The chiming of a clock makes the soul happy,” he says. He finds the gentle-yet-insistent sound reminding the family that point is flowing, “refreshing”. Aseef is energetic by means of the day, and attributes this to his occupation. “Even if I pick up my phone for a few minutes, I will soon put it away to go back to the clock I am working on,” he says.
Aseef has two kids, however is disenchanted that none of them wish to practice beneath him. “I want to transfer all this knowledge to the next generation,” he says. He quickly hopes to maneuver his set-up to his house within the outskirts of town. “I want to set up a museum with all my vintage clocks,” he says. “It will be a place for just me and my clocks.”
Published – February 28, 2025 05:47 pm IST
