Besides watches or clocks what else does one collect?!

[Shawn Moulder]

Watches are my number one thing I collect, but it's not my only passion. The two other things I collect are novelty items made from sterling and American jewelry made from the 1890s to early 1900s. For the silver I collect I mostly focus on American silver from the Aesthetic period. Items I collect range from sterling tea sets, match safes, stamp holders, fruit knives and other such things. It will be interesting to see what other things people collect besides watches or clocks.

 

[Ethan Lipsig]

I collect wine. It may be more enjoyable than PW collecting: Wine is easy to share with family and friends. Disposing of it by drinking it up is a far more enjoyable than selling watches. And one never needs to look for hard-to-find parts.

Here is but a fragment of my collection on a rare outing some years ago when I was having my wine cellar remodeled.

 

[Bernhard J.]

Classic cars (just a few).





This one is 31 years old, although one would not think so.




And this one presently is under (technical) service, obviously




I love my workshop, it used to be a fire engine station. And is just three minutes walk from our home. Occasionally cars of neighbors are attended to (whatever is manageble on a Saturday).

The lift is quite convenient, no disturbing columns. We had to dig 3,5 m into the ground for fitting the mechanics thereof. It lifts 1,90 m high.

 

[Steven Thornberry]

There was a much earlier thread on this topic, though some of the attachments have disappeared.

What Else Do You Collect? | NAWCC Forums

 

[Dr. Jon]

I collected cameras for a while and I have kept most of them. I was and remain a fan of the 1950's Voightlander 35 mm cameras They were innovative and well conceived with superb lenses. There were not many they don't cost much and one of each major type is enough.

Now I also collect horological tools and hand made knives although I don't seriously collect these. I look for them when I travel as a souvenir. That way I am assured of buying a local product. I buy the smallest one the maker signs.

I have couple of odd lenses one I have owned and used in its own but I keep it because I met the man who designed it. The other I bought also after meeting and discussing it with the man who designed it. I do use them from time to time.

 

[J. A. Olson]

Not so much collecting but rather making anew. Building miniature electric sirens is another hobby of mine. Lots of noise, lots of fun.



The original sirens weigh up to 600 pounds. The miniatures are just 5 pounds or less.
They were normally used for firecalls, curfew, fog signals, strike and riot calls, any purpose where a loud distinct signal was useful.
Some of the original sirens are preserved in museums or at fire departments and some are kept active.

I also collect old photos showing those sirens.
This one lived in Columbus, Wisconsin and served from the 1920's up to the 1980's. It is gone now.

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

I collect wine. It may be more enjoyable than PW collecting: Wine is easy to share with family and friends. Disposing of it by drinking it up is a far more enjoyable than selling watches. And one never needs to look for hard-to-find parts.

Here is but a fragment of my collection on a rare outing some years ago when I was having my wine cellar remodeled.

View attachment 739319

I'll drink to that.

RM

 

[MrRoundel]

Bernhard J. , Great cars, one and all. I love the workshop with the lift, etc. I recognize the 850 Bimmer, but I'm not sure about the others, the orange one in particular, the one with the louvered shades on the headlights. What are those interesting cars? Thanks.

 

[Bernhard J.]

The red one is a 1974 Alfa Romeo Montreal (8 cylinder front engine), the silver one a 1969 Lamborghini Espada, and the black one (the engine job) a 1969 Lamborghini Jarama. Both 12 cylinder front engine. All three bought when they were "unloved" in the classic car market. Today you would not even get a completely rotten parts donor with essential components missing (such do turn up once and a while, "barn finds") for what I paid many years ago.

All three: If you need to employ a professional workshop for maintenance and repair work, you need to be really rich. And equanimous.

 

[Bruce Barnes]

I collect thermometers and barometers,these are two of my favorites....I also have a braille barometer that I am restoring. I also have this thermometer that is very rarely found,dial a little faded but very readibile.
Bruce

 

[etmb61]

Metal boxes, but I think that's more like OCD than collecting.

 

[Bruce Barnes]

Metal boxes, but I think that's more like OCD than collecting.

Hi, since the english language spoken in the USA is replete with acronyms what does OCD stand for?, and these instruments are more than just "metal cans".
Regards,
Bruce

 

[Ethan Lipsig]

etmb61 was saying that his (or her) metal box affliction was more obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) than rational collecting.

 

[Bruce Barnes]

Thank you Ethan, however I do not quite understand the "comment", these instruments look so nice when placed with an appropriate clock as a complimentary unit.....;.

 

[etmb61]

Thank you Ethan, however I do not quite understand the "comment", these instruments look so nice when placed with an appropriate clock as a complimentary unit.....;.

Hi Bruce,

Sorry for the confusion. I was making a joke about obsessive-compulsive disorder. My obsession with metal boxes predates my interest in clocks by most of my life. Here are just a few that are within arms reach to give you an idea.




Sometimes I even put stuff in them.

Eric

 

[darrahg]

After getting a bit bored repairing the usual watches and clocks, I did some searching and found something that diverted my interest a bit. These are lighters with watch and clock movements in them. I don't smoke or need lighters but found them to be very interesting and just the break I needed from my standard everyday routine. I ended up restoring both the lighters and timepieces they housed. Here are some examples.

 

[aucaj]

I collect random historical items. I like to combine rare items that as a grouping are even rarer to see.

I have signed documents from all three commanding Generals at the Battle of Waterloo:
Bonaparte, Wellington, and Blücher

I also have issues of Rivington's Gazette with all the different mast head designs from the American Revolution.

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

I'm afraid that I collect too many other things.

I like 3 dimensional items. Things under domes, in shadow boxes, etc.

I am amazed at the range of subjects and especially incredible range of materials used. Hair, wax, paper, shells, feathers, wood, cork, cloth, felt, glass, mica, porcelain, dead things, etc. You name, they used it and created something wonderful.

A great book on this topic is "Under Glass: A Victorian Obsession" by John Whitenight. As the title indicates, it focuses mainly on those produced during the Victorian period. Such items were made earlier and continue to be produced.

I thought that I would share a part of my collection. Not included here are whole categories of objects (whimsey's in bottle, feather work, ship dioramas, just to name a few).

Here are some of my "domes".



An interesting one is next to the Crystal Palace clock (yes, not shown are American clocks under domes, some previously posted on the Forums). Here's the other side of that one:



It's a feather fan on a carved "bone" handle (the handle is virtually identical to one shown in Flayderman's book on scrimshaw, so that kind of bone). Note the use of a real hummingbird for its red iridescent feathers. The seed shell piece on the base was a shell tiara worn by a bride. They are mementoes of a wedding preserved and displayed under a glass dome. Yes, the bride carried the fan as she walked down the aisle. All probably made for her by her sailor/whaler groom. He may have even brought the shells and exotic bird back with him from a voyage.

Here are some dioramas/shadow boxes:





The basket of flowers near the B. Morrill mirror clock and the wreath surrounding the angel playing the harp were produced at Linden Hall, a Moravian School in Lititz, PA. It's called "ribbon work". The 3-dimensional flowers were created from a gauze like material

This is just a few examples what I own and have owned.

So not just clocks. Sorry. No watches.

RM

 

[Alan Walker]

I collect different types of railroad rail. I’ve got samples that date to the 1830s and 1840s. I’ve got a stick of inverted “u” or bridge rail as it was often called that was laid down in Georgia on the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia in the 1840s. I’ve also got pieces of rail that were uncovered locally in Tucson, Arizona when the City of Tucson laid track for their modern streetcar in 2008. Nice thing about the bridge rail is that I have provenance as to where it came from and documentation that that type of rail was used on the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

 

[comet61]

Post War Lionel Trains. O Gauge. The grand majority made between 1945-1955. Stashed away. My little hidden treasure.

 

[Incroyable]

I also enjoy collecting Chinese art but the threshold to purchase quality works is all but impossible now for non-millionaires/billionaires.

One could say the same thing about high-end wristwatches.

I also enjoy early to mid 18th century English silver. Anything later than that is of little interest to me.

 

[Incroyable]

Classic cars (just a few).

View attachment 739342

View attachment 739343

This one is 31 years old, although one would not think so.


View attachment 739344

And this one presently is under (technical) service, obviously

View attachment 739345
View attachment 739346

I love my workshop, it used to be a fire engine station. And is just three minutes walk from our home. Occasionally cars of neighbors are attended to (whatever is manageble on a Saturday).

The lift is quite convenient, no disturbing columns. We had to dig 3,5 m into the ground for fitting the mechanics thereof. It lifts 1,90 m high.

View attachment 739347

I love the '70s supercars.

One car I've always wanted was the original Aston Martin Lagonda.

 

[Steven Thornberry]

In addition to clocks and watches, I also collect inkwells. Many are from the usual suspects, such as Bradley & Hubbard, Weidlich Brothers, Kronheimer & Oldenbusch, and Jennings Brothers. But I also have some Muller inkwells, and they are among my favorites.

Nicholas Muller and his brother Carl emigrated from Germany to New York City about 1849. They established a bronze manufacturing business. Among their products were clock case fronts. After Carl returned to Germany in 1854/55, Nicholas remained in business alone and began to manufacture spelter statues and clock cases with plated finishes, such as French Bronze and Barbedienne. Using such a plated base metal made his products much more affordable than bronze. Nicholas Muller remained in business until his death in 1873. His wife and sons continued the business he had started. In 1874, the name of the business was changed to Nicholas Muller's Sons.

As a side note, Nicholas Muller's son-in-law was Florence (Florenz) Kroeber, a well-known NYC clockmaker. We have threads on both Muller and Kroeber.
Post your Nicholas Muller clocks here | NAWCC Forums
Post your Kroeber Clocks Here | NAWCC Forums

For more information on Muller, I recommend Tran Duy Ly's introduction to his book on Florence Kroeber (written by Chris Bailey) and Arlyn Rath's book, Nicholas Muller, Horologist Extraordinaire. A good reference for Muller cast clock cases is Jim Shawn's article in the October 1985 edition of the Bulletin.

Below are the Muller inkwells that I have collected. One is marked NMS (for Nicholas Muller's Sons).

 

[JTD]

I used to collect and restore antique cash registers. They, particularly the machines made by National Cash Register were amazing pieces of engineering and I liked restoring them very much.

At one time I had many, I am attaching a photo of some of them, don't have so many now. First picture is a 'woody', one of the early NCR machines.

 

[Bernhard J.]

Bernhard J. , Great cars, one and all. I love the workshop with the lift, etc. I recognize the 850 Bimmer ....

Rats!! I will now have to rapidly sell my sportscars and replace then by, lets say, an AMC Pacer or the like. Why? See this very recent scientific study.

https://psyarxiv.com/uy7ph/

Rumors are that the same group of scientist intends the carry out a similar study, now with reference to watch sizes (not to speak of clocks, large clocks) ....

Cheers, Bernhard

 

[Dr. Jon]

First in regard to the recent study, selling the evidence does not make the problem go away but, like watches it is not so much the size that matters as the skill and length of time for enjoyment!!
Second,
I reawakened my interest in old cameras.

Like watches I look for examples where they made something interesting.]

I recently bought a Canon VI-T camera body. It predates single lens reflexes. At the high end of the market, Canon seems have agreed to do Leica thread mounts and Nikon copied the Zeiss Contax.

I have deep appreciation for original Zeiss Contax cameras and their post war variants. They feature a very long base range finder which works using a very elegant device called a Risley Prism. I also like Zeiss for the efforts they made to protect the Jews who worked for them and how thay got them out of the country.

NIkon adopted the Contax mount, but, very uncharacteristically, got it a bit wrong so the longer lenses are not interchangeable. I like Nikon and their lenses but regard their rangefinder cameras as too much of copy of the Zeiss to go for them. Lovely cameras but since I do not use them and I can get the original for less, I never wanted one enough to pay even a bargain price for one.

Canon, after adopting the classic Leica format and cloning these cameras started to make ther own variants. The VI has one of the first modern metal curtain shutters and a very fine viewfinder, much better than the classic "Barnack" Leicas but not as good as teh "M" series. It also has a very slick trigger device to advance the film as well as knob arrangement for us with the camera on a tripod. All in all a very thought out camera. With the recent revived interest in film photography a related model, the "P" has become very popular and its prices have gone up a lot in the last few years. The VI-T is still very cheap and lot of fun to handle. Mine came from Japan and is in nice cosmetic shape. The rangefinder need a bit of adjustment but this is very easy to do on these and there is a lot of how-to available. It's the one I recall seeing in the ads in my youth.

Canon at that time was also known for very "fast lenses' At teh time f/2 was consider fast but Canon adn NIkon went in fard for f/1.4 and Canon has an f/1.2 version. I bought a Canon F/1.4 50mm. I adapted it to my digital camera which is a "Crop" type so I only can see the center but it's very, very good wide open.

I thought I was done but last week I was at a local flea market and took a look at a 4 by 5 Crown Graphic. My heart nearly stopped when I opened it and looked at the lens. It has a Voightlander APO Lanthar. If I have to explain this you won't get it. Suffice it that this is a grail object. It almost never shows up on a Graphlex camera only on Linhof cameras.

There is not much to do with the lens but admire it abut I have spent an lot of time playing with the camera itself. I am old enough that I got instruction in school on how to use this camera but never got into all the things it can do, which almost no one has done in years, but what a lovely piece of engineering.

There is an amusing irony in all of this. The APO Lanthar was the top end offering in the Linhof cameras, which do all the Graphlex and do and more but with style and panache.

These things are all variants of re-orienting the lens to a deal with unusual perspectives and locations. All of this requires a lens with good performance over a larger field of view than a a straight on shot. The Apo Lanthar does not have sufficient coverage to benefit from these features! If yuo put an Apo Lanthar on you would do jsut as well savingh yuor money and putting on a Crown Graphic. Its fairly typical "collector's folly". It's easier to see and recognize outside one's own strongest interest!

What this lens does best is straight on 99.44% photography. I do some of that other distortion correctin stuff in my travel photos but now Photoshop does it better and I do not have to deal with a huge camera, lenses and sheet film. Optics and cameras have come a very long way, and while I enjoy its past, I use fairly up to date stuff for most of what I do photographically.

I will probably trade the Graphlex for something. I did some math and determined that for me going back and doing 4 by 5 inch Polaroids or sheet film is not going to be appreciably better than what I can do with my good APS "crop" digital camera. I did film for many years and I do not miss it.

I do still own and use a good enlarger but I have adapted it to carry and old digital zoom camera and light box to photograph watches. I occasionally see good 50mm enlarging lenses. They are wonderful 5 power loupes.

 

[4thdimension]

I have always had twenty or so collections at a time since I was a kid. What I collect shifts over time and I end up with a rather eclectic hodgepodge of the pieces I can’t part with. Thus, from forty five ukuleles I now have two, and so on. Below are a few of my “keep forever” items. The bits of wood from a triumphal arch that Washington passed under is from my “pieces of the true cross” collection. The little elfin man is a snuff made of Tagua nut and was part of a large collection of Tagua I put together when I used to import the nuts. The folky bathing beauty lamp and the zinc lion’s head are favorite folk art pieces as is the 1916 tattoo flash from San Francisco.-Cort

 

[Rick Hufnagel]

This was fun to read thanks to everyone who responded.

I'll add a few things that I like to collect.

Coins have been a thing since I was a wee dude. Nothing serious and it's mostly just cool stuff I've found over the years. Silver coins, anything old and boxes of wheaties and some indian heads. Pennies are my favorite and there is one folder that is the actual penny collection and I'm always looking to fill gaps and upgrade existing examples. Sometimes I work on it a lot, sometimes it doesn't get touched for a year...

Here are a couple San fransico (s mint mark) coins that are currently sitting on the desk. I was trying to find the best ones to fill the slots.



This Large cent from 1848 is attached to my watch. That year my GGGG grandfather brought our family name to this area from Horbach in Hesse. Just thought it was neat to have a penny from that year.

I really enjoy the large cents and might dig into them a bit more in the future.



I wouldn't really call it collecting... But I like to find old bottles. Here are a few of them. With the exception of the furthest left, the ones in the photo have been pulled out of the ground in various areas of the city during repairs. I think plumbers in the old days liked to drink booze and medicine during work hours lol.

 

[Steven Thornberry]

The following link shows a few examples of items I have collected over the years, this time items by Weidlich Bros.

Something a Little Different | NAWCC Forums