Sutton Clocks 218 East 82nd Street 212-758-2260 Established 1949
NOW
Walking through Sutton Clocks is akin to walking through history. Down a few steps, this hidden gem is lined on both sides with thousands of clocks, from a variety of sources, dating back to the eighteenth century. The minute space also features a worktable in the back, surrounded by gears, pendulums, various tools of the trade, and hundreds more time pieces.
Sutton Clocks was originally owned by Knud Christenson, an immigrant from Denmark who worked at many things, including importing fish and building furniture, before finding his passion in clocks. He recognized a similar passion for fixing things within his youngest son, Sebastian Laws, and took him on as an apprentice in their small loft. Sebastian has continued to carry on his father’s tradition of master craftsmanship by repairing clocks at the store’s current location on 82nd Street. Customers from around the country — and throughout the world — seek Sebastian out to have their clocks - of all shapes and sizes - repaired by him.
With each clock that Sebastian handles, he appreciates its unique tactile history. By looking at the markings on a clock, he can get into the head of the original horologist who made it and can track the life of the timepiece. A man who built a clock in London in the 1800s could not have imagined the clock finding a new life in Sebastian’s hands in twenty-first century New York. Similarly, one day in the future, horologists will trace clocks back to Sebastian and know when they passed through Manhattan.
THEN
Built in 1884 as part of a row of 5 tenement buildings, this building was designed by British architect James Stroud and commissioned by John Demphy. Stroud died in 1913, and his obituary credited to him “many large churches of the city.” The building you see today has had its Italianate window surround details removed, however, the historic cornice and geometric fire escapes are still present. Official records do not shed light on when the basement of the building became storefronts. We do know of an Atari service shop, A-Mark, that occupied this shop in the 1980s.
