Photos by Jason Redmond / Star staff Mike Schmidt of Oxnard is president of the Ventura County chapter of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors. His group holds its Antique Clock & Watch Mart on Sunday at the Camarillo Airport.

Ken McWilliams' fascination with antique clocks began when he was a boy visiting his grandparents.

"I slept on a sofa bed in the den where an old mantel clock resided; the old house made a lot of strange noises at night that I never heard during the daytime," recalled McWilliams. "A child's mind can conjure up some pretty fierce monsters lying alone in the dark, but the soothing ticking of the old clock somehow reassured me that I would live to see the morning, and I soon drifted off to sleep.

"This was the beginning of a long relationship with clocks and watches."

As vice president of the new Ventura Chapter 190 of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, McWilliams is among nearly 100 members who promote the study, research and appreciation of timekeeping and timekeepers and the preservation and collection of clocks, watches and related items.

The chapter will hold its inaugural Antique Clock & Watch Mart on Sunday at the Commemorative Air Force hangar at the Camarillo Airport. The event will feature at least 60 tables of antique and collectible clocks, watches and horological tools for display and sale. There also will be a display of historical timepieces as well as a program highlighting the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, or NAWCC.

"Attendees will view a large variety of unusual, historical and one-of-a-kind timepieces; many are a mechanical delight, with innovations that produce the wow factor," said chapter president Mike Schmidt of Oxnard, who has about 60 clocks in his collection.

"Many of the timepieces are creative art," he said, "reflecting the art periods and furniture periods in which they were made, from Gothic and Baroque, Roman and Greek Revival to Art Nouveau and Art Deco to Modern."

'Chapter of destiny'

The new Ventura chapter is "a chapter of destiny," and it is now one of the fastest-growing and best supported chapters in California, said McWilliams of Northridge, who has about 250 clocks and watches in his collection. He also serves as president of Chapter 75 in the San Fernando Valley; president of TimeKeepers, a nonprofit clock repair club; and a member of the American Watch and Clock Institute.

In addition to offering a gathering point for people with similar interests, the Ventura chapter provides a vital perspective, McWilliams said.

"In our hurry-up, disposable society, where time for retrospection has to compete with 500 channels of TV, the Internet and a hundred other demands for our attention, it often gets pushed aside," McWilliams said.

"Our club allows us to slow down and focus on these things of beauty, things that give us pleasure and share them with our fellow members and friends," he said. "It may be for only a few hours a month, but it helps us keep our balance."

Common bond

In October, the group received its charter from the NAWCC, a nonprofit, scientific organization that serves as an educational, cultural and social resource for its membership and the public.

Members include hobbyists, students, educators, casual collectors and professionals in related retail and manufacturing trades.

"The one common bond is the fascination with the art and science of timekeeping — horology," McWilliams said.

The NAWCC was born in 1943, when a group of watch collectors felt the need to become acquainted and to exchange ideas and trade duplicates.

Since then, the organization has grown from 52 charter members to an international organization with more than 25,000 members and 173 chapters worldwide.

Members of the Ventura chapter are happy and willing to educate the public on the value of preserving and restoring timepieces that might not otherwise survive, Schmidt said.

"This group is special because of the amount of educated and talented members; these are both professional people who do this for a living and others who have made clock and watch repair and collecting a life pursuit," Schmidt said.

"The number of people who can correctly repair timepieces is getting smaller with each year. There is a shortage. A goal is to address that shortage," he added.

You can never view in a lifetime all the mechanical ideas to be found in timepieces, and new timepieces are discovered each year, Schmidt added.

"There are many who collect clocks because of their place in history. To own a clock that was around when our country was just beginning or prior to the Civil War can be fascinating. And the hunt for that special clock, watch or repair part is the passion for most collectors."

Art meets history

Schmidt's passion for timepieces began when he went to a progressive dinner at his church, and every house he entered had a 100-year-old grandfather clock.

"I found out from the pastor that a member of the congregation restored antique clocks; I purchased a grandfather clock and became great friends with the restorer," recalled Schmidt, who purchased a few more clocks and took adult-education classes in clock repair. "I was always fascinated with art and history; clock collecting filled that need."

He is currently working on a Birge & Mallory weight-driven table clock made between 1838 and 1843.

"This American clock was made during the presidency of Martin Van Buren, our eighth president," explained Schmidt, who purchased the clock three years ago at a flea market in Glendale. "It was a basket case, having been stored for 40 years in a shed. The clock had several missing parts and was not running."

Through research and the Internet, he has taken on a complete restoration project.

"The clock originally had a carved crest, doors with three hand-painted reverse glass paintings and a nice set of feet," Schmidt said. "All of these items were missing and had to be replaced. You can feel the time and a history when you restore a piece of this age."

Paul Skeels of Santa Paula, a member of the group's board of directors, said the Ventura chapter provides a great opportunity for people to learn about a specialized topic.

"Clocks and watches have been made for hundreds of years, and the knowledge and skill of those who manufactured and repaired them has been handed down through the centuries," said Skeels, who had a childhood interest in the cuckoo clocks and anniversary clocks his parents acquired in Germany. "They are little machines that require periodic cleaning, lubrication and repairs."

The skills to do this are neither easily acquired nor widely taught, Skeels said.

"Collectors and those who repair timepieces are intrigued that machines created decades and even centuries ago can still be made to function," Skeels said. "Mathematics, physics, history, woodworking, metallurgy, toolmaking and electronics — with respect to more modern clocks and watches — are some of the many areas of special interest that are involved."