I went to a wedding this past weekend, and I realised a couple of things.

My friends don’t mess around when they’re offered an open bar, tequila and Jagermeister are not to be mixed, and a good watch can really add the finishing touch to a stylish outfit.

I guess nowadays we actually call them timepieces, but I was intrigued enough to start thinking about grabbing myself something special to don on the wrist region.

After a little digging and some asking around a friend recommended a guy in Hout Bay who does things differently.

Happen to have inherited a beautiful pocket watch, and aren’t too sure what to do with it? Well, have a listen to Anthony Chemaly’s story:

My interest in pocket watches began many years ago when I realised that I could not afford a good quality mechanical watch. I realised that the market was awash with beautiful pocket watches and loose mechanical movements from pocket watches that were made in an era when everything was done slower, by hand, by craftsman that have long passed on.

Many of these watches have engravings of previous owners, dates, records of issue as awards, gifts, for birthdays etc.  The thought of all the history also intrigued me.

I started to buy broken non-working watches and researching watchmaking to try and restore and repair the watches.  Along this journey I discovered a young clock restorer living in Hout Bay, Darryn Clark, who assisted me in learning the basics of repair and restoration.

In 2015 I began to notice a niche trend of re-casing obsolete pocket watch movements into beautiful one of a kind wrist watches, and started to work on one for myself, using an early 1900’s Omega pocket watch movement that I rescued from a local pawn shop.

Under the dial marked “L. Pinn & Co Adderley Street CT” lay a 1902 Omega. The movement was private labelled by a Adderley Street jeweler and probably sold in Cape Town in the early 1900’s.   In the early 1880’s a Lithuanian emigrant called Lazerus Pinn, arrived on the shores of Cape Town, and 114 years after Lazerus Pinn sold that watch, she is in a custom case and ticking again.

Quite ironic that as the biblical Lazarus rose from the dead, so did this beautiful timepiece.

Timepiece – I just like the sound of it.

I guess that first restoration set the wheels in motion, so to speak, because Anthony has teamed up Darryn and some other skilled watch aficionados to start the Hout Bay Watch Company.

They have also partnered with a number of local artisans who make custom leather straps and custom leather and wood display boxes, which I hope smell of rich mahogany and will match well with my many, many leather-bound books.

Due to the labour required to turn a pocket watch into a timepiece, Anthony says they’re releasing two or three watches every four to six weeks. He did add that they also do a number of special commissions, in case you want to turn that family heirloom into something you can wear on your wrist.

Thus far Anthony and his team have already converted a number of watches, mostly American Railway Grade and World War II Military pocket watches into wearable pieces of art.

Wearable art – almost sounds as good as timepiece.

We’re all for supporting local businesses that offer something different, and I haven’t seen anything like this before here in the Mother City, so all the best to Anthony and the rest of the team going forward.

You can check out their watches, find out more about what they do, and get in touch on their website HERE.