For clock expert, solving tiny puzzles makes time fly

  • By Andrea Brown, Herald Writer
  • Wednesday, February 19, 2014 3:41pm
  • Life

Christopher Beamish is a horologist.

And, yes, his wife approves.

In fact, she’s the one who got him started in horology, the art and science of timepieces.

Beamish, 65, ticks away the hours tinkering with tiny wheels, gears and springs. To him, clocks and watches are more than objects to tell time.

“Look at these guys,” he says of an array of antique pocket watches, finding character in each of the shiny, round faces. “This guy is what you call a fancy face.”

It’s more than just a pretty face.

“A quartz watch has no soul. These have a soul. These were made by somebody and taken care of by people,” he said. “It’s like collecting artwork. It’s technical artwork.”

His mission is to preserve history and keep the hands of time running.

“It’s not the time that’s important. I can get the time anywhere,” he said. “It’s the device that was made by human beings and the engineering that went into it and the artwork that was applied to the movement of the faces.”

Sure, a lot of people treat watches like a piece of jewelry these days. That’s OK. He does, too.

“I might wind up looking at my phone to get the time,” he said.

Beamish has always liked sporting a nice watch. It made a perfect gift for his wife to get him for holidays. The collection led to a hobby.

“When you collect watches you sort of fall into this anyway,” Beamish said. “If you constantly sent them out, it would get expensive.”

It’s akin to surgery. These timepieces have intricate innards.

“There are typically several hundred parts,” Beamish said. “You have to know how to take one apart with all the gears and all the springs and everything else and make it run and operate as it should be.”

About 10 years ago, he considered going to a horology school. However, he was basically told: “We’ve got to spend the money on students who have a long enough work history to take up the slack of people leaving. The old guys who are doing this are dying off.’ “

No problem. He found the hands-on training he wanted.

“I was quasi-apprenticed by a bunch of old guys,” Beamish said. “I used to take my watches in to them for repair. One basically whacked me in the back of the head one day and said, ‘Boy, I am going to die soon and you aren’t going to have anybody to fix your watches.’ You are going to have to learn how to do this. I expect you to be on the bench at least a half a day a week.’ He would require me to sit down and work with him.”

A kinship exists among those who share this time-honored passion. The local chapter of National Association of Watch &Clock Collectors has monthly meetings at the Edmonds Senior Center. Go into any clock shop — there are still a few around — and find an instant bond.

Fred Kiesel, owner of Country Clock Shop in Everett, said fewer people are getting into the profession, but it’s still needed.

Many clocks brought in for repair are at least 100 years old.

“Most of the clocks have a sentimental attachment,” he said.

Kiesel is self-taught. He started as a Navy computer specialist in 1986.

“I needed something to take my mind off work,” he said. “What attracted me was that it is like a puzzle. It is problem-solving.”

He also takes care of the tower clock in the downtown Everett courthouse.

Beamish doesn’t aspire to climb bell towers. Recently retired, he’s happy not to have to punch a time card. Beamish, who spent years working in management, finds watch repair to be refreshing.

“Doing something of a technical nature tends to be very clear,” he said. “It has a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s nice and linear and fairly black-and-white and tends to be a nice relief from dealing with all of the joys of human problems and business interactions.”

Beamish spends a few nights a week in his Snohomish County workshop surrounded by timepieces big and small, emitting faint purrs or clamors every hour.

Even so, Beamish manages to lose track of time.

“I can come down here at 5 or 6 in the evening and I’ll look up and it’s 11 p.m.,” he said.

Maybe time isn’t of the essence, after all.

“You learn patience,” he said, “or you give it up.”

Learn more

The National Association of Watch &Clock Collectors Inc. is a nonprofit scientific organization that is an educational, cultural, and social resource for its membership and the public at large.

Membership includes admission to National Watch &Clock Museum in Columbia, Penn., the Western Hemisphere’s largest museum devoted to timepieces and timekeeping.

For more information, go to www.nawcc.org.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.