Clocks have their own souls, says antique clock master

"I had always been very interested in clocks since the early years of my childhood," he recalled, while browsing through the antique and vintage clocks in his shop located just behind the French Consulate in the Beyoğlu district of İstanbul. "My uncle migrated here, too, two years after we came to Turkey. He set up a clock shop and I started to work with him as an apprentice," he said. He further explains that there were not that many job alternatives for him at the time, so he had to start working with one of his relatives.

"I didn't even touch a clock during the first two years of my apprenticeship," Gürgen noted. "However, I learned the job during this time. The concept of apprenticeship was very different then. The masters used to consider apprentices as people they needed to teach the job to. We didn't even sit down unless our master let us." These two years were crucial for his career as a clock restorer, giving him familiarity with clockwork. "After those preparatory years, I got my first repair assignment. It was not an ordinary clock I was asked to repair, it was a very precious one. I was very excited. It was a great feeling! I sensed both a feeling of enthusiasm and excitement at the same time. Think about it like it is your first exam, after you trained yourself for years. You can repair it like you have been doing it for ages."

"A clock in need of repair deserves respect," he says, speaking of clocks as though they had souls and minds. "You need to attach value to it, since you have become the custodian of the clock." According to Gürgen, people who repair clocks today cannot be compared with those of his time, as everything is valued for its physical value now, rather than sentiment. "In the old times, that was a shame. We just used to attach value to the clocks for what they meant, what they represented," he says.

"I have never regretted doing this job. I have never lamented when I compared this job to what I could have done. I could be much wealthier if I had some other job, but this job satisfies me. I'm content," he explains. However, this devotion came with a hefty price at the expense of his family. He admits that his children may not be as content as he is, since he could not spare much time for them. The business itself did not allow him to spend much-needed time with his kids. "This is self-employment. There are no rigid working hours." He could earn only as much income as work he put in. "How much you work depends on how much you value your job," he says.

The reason Gürgen has dedicated his life to repairing clocks is, he said, primarily that his uncle was a clock repairman, and secondly, his experiences with the last imperial palace clock dealer of the Ottoman Empire. Beginning with the Meyers, Gürgen started to work with many different clocks, including clock towers and clocks in public squares and schools.

When he worked in the Meyer shop, he witnessed another aspect of clockwork he previously didn't recognize. Until then, he perceived clocks as merely tools for showing the time but, after his experience at the Meyer shop, he discovered that each clock has its own meaning. They represent a period of time. "My experience with the Meyers took me to another world," he noted.

"I worked at the Meyer shop for five years and became the shop superintendent. I worked with 100-year-old, 200-year-old clocks. I saw the journey of development these clocks underwent. If I had never witnessed that, I might not be as satisfied with this job as I am. But now I have lost myself inside these millions of clocks."

Gürgen said he does not distinguish between his old customers and new ones because he is interested in what has been brought in to his shop, rather than who brought it.

He noted, however, that people used to bring their own broken clocks to the shop to be repaired, but now, he says, sadly, people send their clocks with someone else. "People use clocks just to adorn their houses now. But I call the owner of the clock, if he sends his clock with someone else, and give him information about the clock and how to use it."

"No clock is worthless enough to get thrown out," Gürgen stated, stressing that we must use the power of our intelligence and keep observing life. "Even if you don't use it as a clock, there are memories that the clock brings to mind. Every clock reflects an era, a family, a house, a choice. No matter how modern your house is, the clock has its own place in it somewhere. The clocks I really love are ones that have been used and stranded."