Customer Spotlight: N.W. Molin's Customized Automobile Clock

This Chelsea clock was manufactured in 1905 and sold to an auto dealership in New York City. The Hollander & Tangeman company, located at West 49th Street, purchased it to be placed in the dash of their first 1908 Hol-Tan Landaulet automobile. When the company dissolved, my grandfather, David Alexius Molin, acquired the clock -- and because he was a master watchmaker (he received his watchmaker credentials in Sweden and emigrated to the U.S. in 1903), he made a beautiful mantle clock from it. From his watch-and-jewelry store on 6th Avenue, he crafted a solid brass case for it and from then on kept it at his home in Port Henry, New York.

In 1952, his home caught fire and as a result, my grandmother was killed. The clock was salvaged from the house and reconditioned by my grandfather. It has remained with our family ever since, and was last serviced by Chelsea Clock in 2011. The movement, which was in excellent shape, was overhauled and the case refinished, including the installation of a new glass face cover. (The original glass was cracked from the heat of the fire.) Since it was in such great shape, the original face was kept. To this day, the clock keeps perfect time and is truly proof of the quality craftsmanship of Chelsea Clock.
--N.W. Molin