ince the invention of mechanical timekeeping, passionate collectors have recognized the enduring historical, technological, cultural, and aesthetic values of horology. The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC)’s 2022 Great Collectors Symposium will feature the lives and collections of some of those men and women who no longer are with us (click here for more information: https://www.greathorology.com).

“They enriched our appreciation and understanding of horology and had significant collections known to the public. They wrote seriously about their collections or other people have done so in detailed books, in museum and auction catalogues, in scholarly and collector journals, and in the popular press. These collectors deserve our attention, study, and everlasting gratitude,” says Bob Frishman, the Symposium’s chairman and a Silver Star Fellow at the NAWCC.

No previous conference has focused on these stars of horology. Eminent international speakers, from America and Europe, will highlight the lives and legacies of some of horology’s greatest collectors. The list of speakers includes world-renowned horological scholars, leaders, and experts such as Jonathan Betts, Oliver Cooke, James Nye, Johannes Graf, Ian Fowler, Will Andrewes, Robert Cheney, Daryn Schnipper, John Reardon, Tom McIntyre, and Russ Oechsle.

This groundbreaking NAWCC symposium also lists more than two hundred important past collectors of clocks and watches. “Never before have their names been gathered together for us to honor. Even more significantly, we now can systematically explore the printed documentation of the collections which they nourished and cherished throughout their lifetimes,” explains Bob Frishman.

In addition to the names, dates and face images when available, and relevant notes, the listing references the auction catalogues, books, booklets, and sometimes simply typed inventories that now may be consulted in the library of the Horological Society of New York.

All of these volumes were painstakingly accumulated and catalogued by Fortunat Mueller-Maerki, recent generous donor of his entire immense horological library to HSNY. Without his efforts over the past decades, many of these publications, which detail thousands of timepieces professionally illustrated and described, would remain scattered or unknown, unavailable to conveniently consult for their rich contents.

The programme will take place on October 21-22 in the historic library of the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of The City Of New York, 20 W. 44th Street. The closing banquet will be directly across the street at the elegant Harvard Club of New York City.

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