At the time, clock making was extremely labor intensive and master clockmakers were lucky to produce more than a few clocks a year. Terry was born in South Windsor, CT in 1772. No one had a bigger impact on the craft than Eli Terry. "To see the smile on their face was worth every ounce of work I put into it./ Connecticut Clockmaker Eli Terry Connecticut Clockmaker Eli Terryĭuring the 17 th and 18 th centuries, Connecticut was at the forefront of innovation in the craft of clock making. "They had this clock that was brought over from England by their parents when they came over with virtually nothing except for this clock and a dream."Ī friend of the couple had tried to fix the clock themself - "a clockmaker's worst nightmare" according to Carter - and its inner parts were in complete disarray.Īfter spending over a week putting all the parts together and making sure the gears' timing was accurate, Carter handed a perfectly refurbished clock back to the couple. "It's very emotional."Ĭarter said one of his favourite moments was repairing an old mantel clock for an older couple living in Mayo. "Every clock, every piece of jewelry has a story," said Carter. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) Repairing 'memories'Ĭarter notes that when you're working on clocks, you're really "working on memories." Cuckoo clocks are often passed down from generation to generation, and people tend to feel quite nostalgic about them. Carter says one of his proudest moments was helping repair the Peace Tower clock. The Peace Tower is pictured on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, April 12, 2021. He says he has around 60 people on a waiting list in the Yukon, and around 80 clocks are waiting to be repaired in Alaska. But he recently underwent laser eye surgery, and is coming back to the trade.Īlready, people are lining up for his services.Īfter posting about his clock repair services on Facebook, he says he received calls "all the way from Watson Lake, to Carcross, even up to Inuvik." He's been working for Canada Post and Selkirk Grocery in Pelly Crossing where he lives, and opened his own food stand called Hotdogginit, to make ends meet. Clock repairs in hot demandĬarter hasn't been repairing clocks as much in recent years because of his declining eyesight. "They were telling me how hard they were trying to find and the only one that they could find that had even remote certifications to myself was somewhere in California," said Carter. That's how he got his gig maintaining and repairing clocks throughout Alaska for many years. He says he's built quite the reputation for himself in the clockmaking world. "So if there's a wheel bent or a bearing missing or something like that, you have to make it by hand, and it has to be perfect." "You can't just order parts for these things because they weren't made with power tools," said Carter. When Carter is called in to repair a clock, he meticulously checks every part and, when needed, makes new parts by hand. "They don't let just anybody work on clocks." "It's a very closed industry," said Carter. Technically anyone can call themself a clockmaker - there isn't an official clockmaker certification recognized by the Canadian government - but Carter says you have "to have some chutzpah in the industry" to be respected. One of the cuckoo clocks Carter has repaired. These are very highly skilled tradesmen." "This was before power tools, and so they would chisel out the little gear wheels in the clock by hand and file them all by hand. "I'm talking about the old guys, the ones that made their own tools," said Carter. So, I showed interest, and the rest was history."Ĭarter trained with him for four years before completing his clockmaking certification in Germany where he worked with local tradespeople. "Anyway, he had no children and he wanted to the skill. "He was a German guy right from the old country, from the Black Forest where most of the real cuckoo clocks come from," said Carter. One day, while buying clock parts for a jewelry repair, he met a master clockmaker. (Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images) You have 'to have some chutzpah'Ĭarter started training as a goldsmith when he was 16 years old in Kemptville, Ont., a town of about 9,000 around 50 kilometers south of Ottawa. Clockmaker Stephen Carter specializes in repairing these types of clocks. A man looks at cuckoo clocks in a shop in Titisee-Neustadt, Germany.
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