Nguyen Huu Tuan is not only familiar with people who like ancient clocks in Nha Trang City but also a famous clock repairman in the central provinces.
Nguyen Huu Tuan is not only familiar with people who like ancient clocks in Nha Trang City but also a famous clock repairman in the central provinces.
In his house, there are quite a lot of ancient wall clocks. “Since I was little, I have had a big love for clocks. When I visited someone’s house which had beautiful clocks, I kept looking at those clocks. When I was 18 years old, I began to look for the old clocks and learn about its composition, features and function. Since then, I have stuck with the profession of a clock repairman,” Tuan sharing about the natural association with the ancient clocks or “time machines”, a joke name for clocks called by the ancient clock collectors.
With 30 years of experience, Tuan is now so experienced in repairing clocks that he knows the branch, composition and mechanism of the clocks just after a look. He can also make some clocks’ components. Tuan said “About 20 years ago, there was too little information about the clocks; therefore it was very difficult to fix the old clocks. Because of the lack of the spare parts, I had to manage to make them from the damaged components. Nowadays, it is easier to fix the clocks thanks to the abundant sources of products imported from the foreign countries.”
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| Nguyen Huu Tuan is preparing clocks. |
In the past, just the rich people could afford to buy the famous wall clocks such as Odo, Junghans and Schatz. At present, there are a plentiful number of imported clocks, so the ancient clock collectors are increasing more and more.
Up till now, Tuan owns about 200 ancient clocks (wall clocks, tabletop clocks, wristwatches, cabinet clocks, etc.) made in France, German, Holland, Japan and Switzerland. However, he said that people know him as a clock repairman more than a clock collector because his number of clocks is still far fewer than the ones of his friends.
According to Tuan, the ancient clock collectors especially love Odo clock because of its ancient color, good material and sound.
Wishing to connect the ancient clocks lovers, in mid-2013, Tuan opened website thuanloipho.vn as an online forum about ancient clocks. The website now has 4,000 members and helped Tuan to have more friends who are antique collectors and ancient clock collector. An online friend from German whom he has never met face to face even sent him a beautiful hand-made tabletop clock.
“For clock collectors, the clocks not only are “time machines” but also bear many cultural features. Many clocks were descended through generations. I hope that with the development of Nha Trang City, there will be more and more ancient clocks collectors,” Tuan shared.
H.N
