Presidents Message

The September educational talk was given by myself. Pictures and videos of clocks were shown from the Beyer Clock museum in Zurich Switzerland. I had the opportunity to visit this museum after the NAWCC travel chapter visit in 2018 to Amsterdam and a trip down the Rhine River.

The Beyer Clock and Watch Museum is housed in Zurich’s heart of the city, in the premises of the Beyer watch store. The exhibition comprises some 250 pieces from all fields of horology, which are examined in technical and scientific terms as well as from an art-history point of view. The museum is home to one of the most important horological collections in the world. It recounts the complete history of timekeeping from 1400 BC to the present day.

The exhibition comprises rare and precious exhibits such as shadow sticks, sun-dials, oil-lamp clocks, hourglasses, water clocks, grandfather clocks, table clocks, pocket watches, wristwatches and scientific instruments for timekeeping and marine navigation. Historical masterpieces that are rarely set running because of their fragile mechanics come to life in enthralling video clips. The exhibition is constantly being expanded and is widely regarded as one of the most important horological collections in the world.

Bruce Shawkey will give a talk titled Golden Age of the Swiss Wristwatch at the November meeting, from his latest book about all the wild and wacky brands that came out of the post-WWII consumer boom. Bruce delves into some of the most beautiful wristwatch advertisements to ever come out of Switzerland, lush Swiss ads that are incredible in their detail of actual watches being produced shortly after WWII. They represent a rich playground in which the collector of modest means may frolic. Bruce has been collecting vintage wristwatches since 1986. He began writing about watches in 1993 with his own newsletter, Vintage Wristwatch Report, and was the wristwatch columnist for the Watch & Clock Bulletin. He has written and published several books on vintage wristwatches.

Educational Talks Planned for 2020
January – Rich Newman (NAWCC Board Chair) – Watch Papers
March – Danno Osterud – Watch Tools
May – Mike Dempsey – Old tool demo
September – Craig White – Strasbourg Astronomical Clock
November – To Be Determined (please consider volunteering)

Thank you,
Craig White