The keeping of time
Nestled on a wooded property near the outskirts of Otsego sits a unique shop, and when you step through the front door, you’re transported to another time, literally.
The steady ticking of old timepieces keeps a tempo rhythm in John Ouellette’s shop, who has spent years repairing and restoring antique clocks and watches—each one brought back to life with careful hands and persistent patience.
Ouellette’s workshop is a world of brass gears, hand-carved wood, and gentle chimes. He restores everything from delicate pocket watches to towering grandfather clocks, and even old phonographs, pieces that have been around for generations.
A carpenter by trade, John has always had a mechanical aptitude and interest in how things work, his passion for clocks began as a young man.
“When I was a kid, I was a motorhead. I started driving around Minneapolis in my go-kart when I was 13, from there it morphed into clocks and then watches. When I graduated from high school, I bought my first clock at the Salvation Army for $27.50.”
Once upon a time, wooden clocks were decorative pieces of art, a feature in any household living room. Ouellette owned and operated Antique Clock and Watch Restoration in Osseo for many years, first opening a shop in Golden Valley in 1992 before moving to Osseo fifteen years later. Changes in the marketplace over the years, along with labor and repair costs, led to decreased demand. John ultimately closed his Osseo shop for good in 2016, but still finds time to work on a few old clocks here and there.
“I was at my shop for ten years before I realized that nobody was buying clocks anymore. That was about 20 years ago.”
Ouellette’s shop thrived in those early years, where he often saw a steady stream of customers pass through his shop doors.
“It was such a fun thing. The first eight years when I had my shop I didn’t even stop for lunch. I was just having so much fun working. The year after I started, I couldn’t believe I was still there.”
John is self-taught, learning how to repair clocks and watches from books and hands-on experience. “Clocks are relatively simple, you just need to go from gear-to-gear and see what’s going on, the gears never really wear out, it’s the pivot holes that wear out on them.”
Parts, not readily available on today’s market, aren’t difficult for John to come by, as he has collected numerous over the years. During the COVID era, John disassembled a collection of clocks and old pocket watches to use as parts, some of which he has sold, others he’s hung onto.
John estimates that he currently has over 150 running watches and has kept over 100 clocks stored in his basement in the past; that number has dwindled somewhat over the years, but his collection still remains strong, along with his passion for restoration.
“All my really nice clocks I’ve sold at auction, but I still enjoy fixing old stuff. I used to joke and tell people that I can fix anything except a broken heart.”
While technology may have changed over the years, John’s memories remain fond and endearing, recalling a specific New Year’s recollection.
“I had a lot of clocks running one year on New Year’s Eve we wound a bunch to ring in the new year. It sounded just like it was raining,” John smiled.
These days, Ouellette says he works on one or two clocks per month. Folks still contact John when they have an old clock in need of a repair and require his expertise. Perhaps there’s an antique clock collecting dust in your basement that could be brought back to life… if only for nostalgia, and to remember a time of yesteryear. If so, John can be contacted at 763-595-8678.
