By TAM PUTNAM
Time takes on an elastic quality at Smith Clock Co. A calm ticking fills the shop, while grandfather clocks chime random hours. For clock restorer David Smith, time has several speeds: There’s the stately historical time of the old clocks themselves, some from the 17th century; the efficient speed of his work as timepiece diagnostician; and the leisurely pace of a raconteur with stories to tell.
As a child, Smith frequented his father’s real estate job sites, whose former occupants often left furnishings behind. “The clocks were just like gold,” he says. “I started when I was 8, taking them apart, and putting things together in different ways. I must have been 10 before someone asked me, ‘Do any of them work?’ It was like, ‘Oh, yeah, they’re clocks.‘ ” It was as if a bell went off. “I wanted to see things in good shape.” He went to City College’s clock repair program, apprenticed for a decade, then opened a shop on Fillmore before moving to his current location a few blocks from Fillmore at 2799 Bush Street.
Smith begins his work by determining provenance. “It’s like reading a book in a different language,” he says. “You look at the way a French clock is designed, then you look at a Dutch or a Swedish piece — it’s night and day.” With mechanical clocks, a key winds a mainspring that, in unwinding, turns gears that move the clock’s hands. The ticking sound comes from the gear teeth engaging and releasing. Time takes its toll on all these parts.
“It’s only you and the clock,” Smith says. “When the clock comes out just the way you want, that relationship is special. The clock is the customer.”
This article is part of a series produced by reEnvisionRepair a grassroots group started by Kathryn Hyde. The team has interviewed and photographed more than 40 local repair businesses since 2018. Composed of a small team of eco-conscious San Franciscans, reEnvisionRepair celebrates the art of preservation by sharing stories of local repair shops with the broader community.
EARLIER: “Tinkering With Time“