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Tuesday October 20, 2015 Edition
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The Hidden Treasures Of The Clock Shop

The Clock Shop is more than a place for clock repair. Owner David Welch brings together a host of skills,antiques. and clocks that would interest a collector or just someone who is curious.
photo by Cookie Steponaitis
The Clock Shop is more than a place for clock repair. Owner David Welch brings together a host of skills,antiques. and clocks that would interest a collector or just someone who is curious.
Clocks have unique and beautiful designs, but for Welch the artistry and intricacies of the mechanics inside is what it is all about.
photo by Cookie Steponaitis
Clocks have unique and beautiful designs, but for Welch the artistry and intricacies of the mechanics inside is what it is all about.

Tuesday October 20, 2015

By Cookie Steponaitis

It was the early 1980’s when University of Vermont Mechanical Engineer graduate David Welch crossed paths with Pat Boyden, the owner of the Green Mountain Clock Shop in Williston. Boyden had just opened up a retail store in the Champlain Mill in Winooski and was looking for part time work. David Welch learned immediately the first thing to be was honest selling clocks and answering questions about their use and care. If he knew the answer to the customer’s question he would respond and if he did not he would research and learn fast and that honesty, coupled with great carpentry skills and engineering know how placed David Welch working alongside Pat Boyden when the Bristol Town clock needed major repair in 1982. The repair along with the clock works itself required specialized carpentry including rounded framing and more. By the end of the project David Welch was hooked and the engineer in him found more than just a source of income in repair work in the intricacies of the mechanics of clocks.
    Welch opened up The Clock Shop in 1989 and was one of the first businesses in the new Marbleworks buildings in Middlebury which was his home base until 1998 when he moved his operations to 33 Green Street in Vergennes. Welch’s shop is as intriguing as the owner himself and open Monday through Friday 10:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and by appointment evenings and weekends. Opening the door takes the visitor into a space where time and the artistic and mechanical wonders that monitor it are celebrated. Different clocks representing many eras and nations are all in motion and the sound of time being measured echoes in the shop.
    David Welch might be found at his work bench or conversing with a customer or simply contemplating the next project that will capture his time. And mixed in with clocks of all vintages are antique fire fighting tools, band memorabilia, books, a vintage engine and the list changes as new things or rather old things catch the eye and engineering interest of Welch. “I am asked all of the time what is my favorite clock,” grinned David Welch. “While there is not one that is my favorite, I do love and appreciate the Banjo Clocks of the early 1800’s. They were the work of Simon Willard; undeniably America’s most revered clock maker and they are different from other clocks often passed down as family heirlooms. They are simple movement clocks and don’t strike on the hour like many, but each has incredible artistry.”
    When inquiring further about the artistry in question, Welch’s engineering passion shows. While most visitors and clock owners are impressed with the ornate face or decorative qualities of the clock, Welch is not concerned with the exterior but the interior. Clocks for Welch were at one time made to be repaired, reworked and passed on to generations to come and what is covered and hidden from the naked eye is Welch’s passion and concept of art. It is the intricate inner workings of the clock, made with precision and care by master hands that keep clocks and all that go with them new and still intriguing to him thirty plus years later. When asked if it was a fair comparison to look at clocks like people and not to judge them by the appearance and first impression, Welch paused a minute and then agreed that the comparison was fitting. Inside the clock is a world of mechanical engineering that even today with all of our tools and technology is a testimony to individual passion, dedication and pride in craftsmanship.


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