The Curiosity Shop

Before Charlie’s Uncle Fred died, he gave us his grandfather clock. It had been Charlie’s great grandfather’s clock, and stood in his office, which became Charlie’s grandfather’s office, which became Uncle Fred’s office. We were living in New Jersey at the time, and Charlie had no intention of taking over the family office! It was a little the worse for wear, so we had Tichenor Furniture, in Honeoye Falls, pick it up for restoration. They couldn’t repair the mechanism, so they recommended the Curiosity Shop, which we’d never heard of, naturally. When it came time to deliver it to us, they gave us a quote of about $600 for delivery. But then we got a call from Mike Kuyt, who owned the Curiosity Shop, saying he didn’t really trust a shipper to unload and set up the clock properly, and that he’d be in the area, so he could bring it by personally. “In the area” is subjective, because he was actually on his way to Delaware (to fix the tower clock at St. Andrew’s School, where Dead Poet’s Society was filmed) – nowhere close to us! And I steeled myself when he reminded us of the original delivery quote and added, “but since I delivered it personally…” expecting the amount to double. In fact, it was less! Several months later, the chime was out of synch with the time, and when I called him for help, he said he’d be “in the area” again and could fix it. This time, we made him stay for dinner and the night, and I’m glad we did, because it was embarrassingly easy to reset, and he probably could have walked me through it over the phone in a couple of minutes. All I could think was that he was the personification of integrity.

Dave & Mike

Charlie also helped!

Our clock is over 100 years old, and one of the cables recently snapped. In addition, no matter what the hour, it always seemed to strike 8. So we recently had Mike (who has since retired) and his son Dave (who has taken over the business) pick up the mechanism for an overhaul. When they returned to install it, we reminisced about his earlier visits, and the impression he’d obviously made on me, and he thanked me, because he truly values his relationships with his clients.

The Curiosity Shop, inconspicuously located at 145 Norris Drive in Rochester, is dedicated to the craftsmanship of clock-making and repair. I asked him about his story for this blog, and his own understated words are more eloquent than any I could compose:

“In 1979 I was getting tired of working trick work at Kodak. I rotated all three shifts and worked in total darkness on heavy production machinery. My wife Julie and I decided to open a clock and gift shop (and named it “Curiosity Shop,” in tribute to Charles Dickens). Almost immediately, people started bringing in clocks to be repaired. We told the customers that we did not repair clocks. After that went on for a while, Julie finally said to me, "why don't you learn to repair clocks?" I walked next door to Gold Circle bought a $5 red tool box and some basic tools and started taking clocks apart and trying to figure out how they worked. I eventually got connected with an older gentleman who knew how to repair clocks and apprenticed with him. Over the years I learned in various ways and eventually became certified by AWI based on the Swiss standards.

My career in clocks essentially has three parts. I repair clocks that are owned by individuals, have repaired and restored tower clocks in municipal buildings, churches, and cathedrals, and have designed and fabricated many wooden gear clock sculptures. My wife Julie and I have operated Curiosity Shop for 37 years. We have seen good times and bad. In 1989, Julie had a major cerebral hemorrhage and subsequent brain surgery. Because of factors relating to that and for other reasons, we lost our retail business in 1995 and declared bankruptcy. We were left with just a small repair shop on Norris Drive that had no value to the courts and a lot of debt. Julie was severely disabled for a number of years after that. She was denied disability…. She was also not able to collect unemployment because NYS said we opted to close the business. Our 15 employees all collected unemployment but Julie did not.

Mike with Pillars Clock

Now that I write this, I'm thinking this should be more about her than me. With three young children to support and care for, it was a difficult time. In spite of her enormous challenges, she insisted on working at what she could every day. She pushed and pushed and pushed and with no help from therapists or anyone but me, over the years she became productive and found ways to get things done in spite of her cognitive reasoning, short term memory and visual deficits. She is an amazing person. She still has a difficult time remembering things and reasoning. When we go out to eat, I read her the menu and she often picks the same thing that I do for expediency. Every day we wake up she asks what day it is, she can't remember. In spite of all that I have come to understand that she has a kind of wisdom that goes beyond what the vast majority of people have. She has an incredibly deep understanding of the important things in life without necessarily being able to articulate that succinctly with words. Her life experiences have made her more, not less…. Julie is the real story here.”

Pillars Clock at
Artisan Works

another clock at
Artisan Works

Mike used to make clocks (two are on display at Artisan Works), and he remains one of only two or three people in Rochester certified as a fine-mechanical watchmaker. The Curiosity Shop remains very busy, which prompted an apology from Mike about the length of time it had taken to complete our repair, even though we hadn’t minded the absence. Mike now spends time on his hobbies (flying a Cesna, playing bass in a rock band, Friends who Jam, along with Dave on guitar) and enjoying life with his wife.

If you need a clock or watch repaired, the Curiosity Shop is definitely the place to go!