Old Tymers Antique Clocks & Watches

Old Tymers Antique Clocks & Watches Old Tymers Antique Clock shop. We cater to the collector: we buy, sell, and repair antique time pieces.

Closed Saturday to have a proper long weekend.
05/14/2025

Closed Saturday to have a proper long weekend.

This week we’re featuring another style of Pequegnat clock, the “Beaver”. Arthur Pequegnat built two issues of the Beave...
11/14/2024

This week we’re featuring another style of Pequegnat clock, the “Beaver”.

Arthur Pequegnat built two issues of the Beaver, commonly referred to as the Big Beaver and the Little Beaver. Arthur’s primary naming system was Canadian cities, with the notable exceptions of the Beaver and the King Eddy. (You might remember last week’s feature, the Nelson, which was named after the city of Nelson in British Columbia.)

➡️ We have three Little Beavers in stock. Two in oak cases and one in mahogany, all shown here and available to purchase online.

Beavers are native to Canada and have been considered Canada’s national icon for 300 years, however it did not become an official symbol
of Canada until March 24, 1975, when the National Symbol of Canada Act received royal assent. This law aimed to showcase the North American beaver
(Castor canadensis) as one of the symbols of Canadian sovereignty.

Fun fact about beavers for your next trivia night:

The first fossil records of beavers are 10-12 million years old and found in Germany. The oldest fossil records of beavers in North America are two teeth found in Oregon that are 7 million years old. It’s thought they migrated to North America across the Bering Strait.

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

All three clocks are in good working order and available to ship.

As always, please email us with questions: [email protected].

Meet the “Nelson”, the grandfather of Arthur Pequegnat’s tall clocks and an extremely rare find. There are few known exa...
11/07/2024

Meet the “Nelson”, the grandfather of Arthur Pequegnat’s tall clocks and an extremely rare find.

There are few known examples of this clock and this one is in excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition.

It features a golden oak case with original finish, beveled glass door, and a good label. It has an 8 day time and strike movement, and the movement is signed Berlin.

➡️ Click on the product tag in the post to view this piece online, or visit us in the shop this weekend.

This rare fellow was made in Berlin, Ontario, Canada (now Kitchener) between 1910 and 1916. Berlin was renamed to Kitchener because of WW1.

The “Nelson” was featured in the 1913 and 1918 Pequegnat catalogues. The clock measures 81 inches in height, 22 1/2 inches in width, and is 13 inches deep. It has the bevelled glass in the front door panel and the sunken dial. As well as an eight-day weighted movement with brass weights, it has the double strike on tuned rods for the hour and the half hour.

As is the same for most wood furniture made in this time period, Nelson clock cases were typically made out of oak. However, the company catalogues showed both walnut and mahogany as upgrade options for an additional cost.

The Canada Clock Museum has an almost complete set of the roughly ninety catalogued models of mantel, wall, and hall (grandfather) clocks produced by The Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company between 1904 and about 1941. The brass shortage caused by WWII forced the clock factory to close around 1941.

Interested in Pequegnat clocks? Read our previous post for more history and check out our entire selection of Pequegnat clocks on our website.

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

As this piece is fragile, pickup or blanket wrap delivery only.

Here is your chance to own a circa 1920s, Canadian-made Pequegnat Leader clock—one of the best “Leaders” we’ve seen in r...
11/01/2024

Here is your chance to own a circa 1920s, Canadian-made Pequegnat Leader clock—one of the best “Leaders” we’ve seen in recent past!

Featuring an 8-day weight driven time and strike movement, quarter sawn oak case, and original chipped glass panels in the door. You’ll also notice a reproduction label on the rear access door.

➡️ Click on the product tag in the post to view this piece online, or visit us in the shop this weekend.

Interesting history about the maker of this clock:

Arthur Pequegnat was a watchmaker and jeweler who emigrated from Switzerland to what is now Kitchener, Ontario, in 1874. He became fascinated with bicycles and opened a bike shop with his brother, Paul. They built bikes that were sold all across Canada. By 1904, Arthur started producing clocks in the back of the bike factory. As the automobile rose in popularity, the bike shop was phased out and by 1923 clock production was their main business.

They manufactured over 80 models of clocks for hall, mantlepieces, offices, schools, parlours and precision timepieces for railways.

This Leader grandfather clock first
appeared in the 1904, 1913 and 1918 Pequegnat catalogues.

The Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company is known as the longest-lasting Canadian-based clock manufacturer and the first in Canada to successfully mass-produce clocks.

After Arthur died in 1927 the business was taken over by his son, Edmond. The business discontinued operations during WW2 due to the shortage of brass and competition from mass-produced American clocks.

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

Pickup or blank wrap delivery only.

If you are a collector and don’t presently own a General, here is your opportunity to own a clean original example. Its ...
10/26/2024

If you are a collector and don’t presently own a General, here is your opportunity to own a clean original example. Its commanding presence would make it a great piece for a one-clock setting!

This Ansonia General, time only, 8 day wall clock is in excellent condition with original glass top and bottom and 2 weight movement. It was made for Charles Fox circa 1880.

➡️ Click on the product tag in the post to view this piece online, or visit us in the shop this weekend.

Some interesting history on this piece:

Charles Fox ran a jeweller/optician/watchmaker business called C.A. Fox & Son in Walkerton, Ontario, from the late 1870s or early 1880s until his death in 1932. In the last two slides you’ll see Jolene wearing a pair of glasses he made and holding up the original case.

This clock of his was made by Ansonia in the 1880s and Charles name was added to the dial, a practice referred to as private label.

Ansonia produced an extensive line of clocks, including regulator clocks like this 1886 “General” model. In the 1870s, the Ansonia Clock Company separated from the Ansonia Brass Company and
moved part of its production to New York. While many clocks continued to be produced in Connecticut, most clocks produced from roughly 1880 and on are marked “New York”.

Production peaked for them in 1914 with Ansonia turning out 440 different models of clocks, but that dropped to under 140 by 1920 and under 50 by 1927. In 1929, Ansonia was sold to the Soviet Union’s U.S. trading company Amatory Trading Corporation.

This private label clock is a special piece of history.

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

This piece is fragile: Pickup or blank wrap delivery only.

A lovely H&C Burr Dundas Upper Canada clock, circa 1830. This Pillar & Splat clock features a mahogany veneer case and 3...
10/10/2024

A lovely H&C Burr Dundas Upper Canada clock, circa 1830.

This Pillar & Splat clock features a mahogany veneer case and 30 hour wooden works. It’s mechanically functional and will be fully serviced prior to sale. You’ll notice minor shallow chips on two tips of the crown.

➡️ Click through to view this piece online or visit us in the shop this weekend.

Some interesting history about Burr clocks:

Thanks to extensive research carried out by the Dundas Historical Society—and a resulting series of books entitled “History of the Town of Dundas” compiled by T. Roy Woodhouse—we know a fair bit about these two brothers and their work.

Horace Burr and his brother, Charles, sold clocks in Dundas, Upper Canada from 1830 -1836. They seem to have enjoyed a good measure of success since clocks bearing their names have survived in considerable numbers. 

We know they arrived in Dundas, perhaps by way of nearby Ancaster, in 1830. Upon their arrival the Burrs opened Dundas’s second jewellery store and a clock making establishment. Both Burrs had left Dundas by 1836, as their establishment was no longer listed in 1837.

Burr clocks in Canada fall into two distinct categories. Some are labelled “Made and Sold by H.&C. Burr Dundas U.C.” and others, “Manufactured and Sold by Horace Burr Dundas U.C.”. 

The authors of Early Canadian Time Keepers believe that the “H.&C.” clocks were produced first, and that Charles returned to the USA some years before Horace who continued the business alone. This is confirmed by the activity periods of the printing firms that prepared the various labels. A majority of the surviving clocks bear the “Horace” labels.

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston Ontario. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

Do you recognize the faces on this clock? This week we have a very rare Robbie Burns Poet Clock, from the early 1800s. I...
10/03/2024

Do you recognize the faces on this clock? This week we have a very rare Robbie Burns Poet Clock, from the early 1800s.

It features a castle top case with exceptional detail in both mouldings and veneer work. Looking closely you’ll see that the configuration of the dial matches the shape of the inlay in the base—a testament to the originality of the piece.

Originally purchased by the Larsen family for their private collection, I acquired this clock in 2022.

➡️ Click through to view this piece online or visit us in the shop this weekend.

From top left of the dial working counterclockwise, you’ll notice the faces of:

Robert Fergusson (1750 –1774), a Scottish poet who lived and wrote during the height of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Robert Burns (1759-1796), the celebrated Scottish poet and lyricist.

Sir Walter Scott (1771 –1832), a Scottish novelist, poet and historian who penned many classics.

And Allan Ramsay (1684-1758), a Scottish poet, playwright, publisher, librarian and impresario of early Enlightenment Edinburgh.

This unusual clock has an impressive presence at 90 inches tall (that’s 7 and a half feet!).

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

It was fully serviced by us in 2023. The case was restored, the movement was professional refurbished, and the dial was retouched and stabilized.

Pickup or blanket wrap delivery only.

This week’s feature: an extremely rare Waltham Astronomical Sidereal Watch. Circa 1910 and based on the 1892 model, only...
09/27/2024

This week’s feature: an extremely rare Waltham Astronomical Sidereal Watch. Circa 1910 and based on the 1892 model, only 325 of these were produced.

From the Dominion Observatory #250 (swipe through the photos to see the engraving the back), this special piece is in good running order and ready to find a new home with a fellow enthusiast!

➡️ Click through to view this piece online or visit us in the shop this weekend.

Don’t know what sidereal time is?

It’s a way of measuring time relative to the distant stars. When we look up at the stars and they appear to be moving in the sky, what’s actually happening is the stars are fixed in position and it’s the earth that’s rotating. While the earth in its rotation isn’t a perfect timekeeper, it’s a near perfect one which allows us to determine the length of rotation (aka a day!) by using the stars. This is referred to as Sidereal time. The length of the Sidereal day is shorter than the mean solar day by approximately 3 minutes and 53 seconds.

Prior to the advanced modern “Atomic Clocks”, astronomers measured the elapsed time between two successful passages of the same star across a local meridian to keep time. This was accomplished by observing those two star passages with a transit telescope from an observatory. The telescope is fixed in a North/ South plane so that it can record time measurements when these stars cross the meridian.

If you’d like to keep going down the rabbit hole, look up the Dominion Observatory on Wikipedia.

➡️ View this piece online or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open 10-5 Friday & 10-3 Saturday.

This piece is available to ship!

This week we’re spotlighting a rare Waltham #13 Wall Regulator, circa 1910.Featuring the original, pristine condition 1...
09/19/2024

This week we’re spotlighting a rare Waltham #13 Wall Regulator, circa 1910.

Featuring the original, pristine condition 14” signed dial and full length glazed glass door. The roman numeral dial has a seconds bit and is marked “Waltham Clock Co.”.

The 8 day time only movement is signed, “Waltham Clock Co USA”. It has a Graham dead-beat escapement, with maintaining power and jewelled pallets, and triple-jar mercury pendulum.

The clock is in its original quarter-sawn oak case with original finish, and a silvered beat scale also marked “Waltham Clock Co.”

Beautiful! And at 70” tall this piece is precious. Pickup or blanket wrap delivery only.

➡️ View this piece online for more detail or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

Joseph Balleray wood works tall case clock, circa 1820s.With an original dial in excellent condition, this piece was ful...
09/12/2024

Joseph Balleray wood works tall case clock, circa 1820s.

With an original dial in excellent condition, this piece was fully serviced by us in 2023. It has a good original finish as well as the correct weights and pendulum.

➡️ Click through to see this piece online or visit us in the shop this weekend.

Joseph Balleray was a lesser known clockmaker from Longueuil, Quebec (near Montreal). If you zoom in on the photo of the arch top dial you’ll see it’s signed “J. Balleray & Co., Longueil”. It’s painted beautifully with decorative berries, flowers, and leaves that still have vibrant colours after all these years of life.

In great condition, this clock is ready for it’s new home!

➡️ View this piece online or come visit our shop in Kingston. Open Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-3.

Cabin Fever Kingston 2024
02/04/2024

Cabin Fever Kingston 2024

Come see us and Cecilia's watch at Cabin Fever.
02/03/2024

Come see us and Cecilia's watch at Cabin Fever.

Address

571B Princess Street
Kingston, ON
K7L1C8

Opening Hours

Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm

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