Isn’t it nice, that extra hour of sleep thanks to winter time? Not for Stefan Jongerius. The clockmaker from Wagenberg spent hours on Sunday setting ‘his’ clocks correctly. Because that’s more complicated than you think.
You walk into the workshop at the back, through the backyard. One foot crosses the threshold and the quiet ticking of dozens of clocks immediately greets you.
“Wonderful, that peace,” says Stefan. He has enjoyed his work as a clockmaker for 18 years. “I have about 100 clocks here, but most of them need to be repaired and are therefore standing still.”
Never turn back
Yet it takes him hours to set about twenty-five clocks back an hour. “It’s not my favorite job, no.” Because simply turning the hands back an hour is not an option. “If you turn back the hands of a striking clock, you destroy the mechanism.”
“It needs to be turned forward eleven hours or stopped for an hour.” But unfortunately many customers are not aware of this. “They usually don’t come right away, because they don’t dare. They then feel stupid.”
Weeks later, the clockmaker still knocks. “Then they come in with ‘The clock is broken. I don’t know what happened?!’” he laughs.