“What time is it?” is a question never asked in one New Carlisle home, as George Thorne is the city’s resident watch enthusiast, with a collection of nearly 800 timepieces. Having worked in the Army and Air Force as a repairman for high-altitude and deep-sea watches, Thorne has turned his one-time profession into a full-time hobby that has spanned nearly 40 years.
Thorne is a regular in the New Carlisle News office, as he stops by each week to pick up a paper and chat with whoever is working—usually myself or my Editor, Andy Grimm. Always impeccably-dressed and wearing at least one watch on each wrist, Thorne as a soft-spoken man in his mid-80s who kindly calls life as he sees it. Because of his extensive knowledge and passion for everything relating to watches, Andy and I began calling Thorne “the watch man” before we knew his real name, and Thorne doesn’t mind because he embraces his status as the local watch guy.
Thorne has worked as a watch repairman since he left the service, and while he once enjoyed steady work in the profession, he said the need for watch repairs has declined sharply as they become more mass-produced in China and the Middle East. He said watches are made so cheaply now that it is more economical for people to just buy a new one rather than have it fixed.
“It really is a lost art, so to speak,” said Thorne of watch repair. “All these watches you get at Walmart are just junk.”
While the art of repair soon may be extinct, Thorne is still active in the broader watch field—doing a few repairs for those with high-quality items, but mostly working with dealers and collectors in identifying and appraising pieces, as well as buying, selling, and trading.
Thorne and his wife Alma graciously welcomed us into their home last week to see his workshop and collection. Bands, faces, and hundreds of other assorted watch parts were either scattered on his desk or packed neatly away in countless bins, with Thorne assuring us that he knew where each piece was located. Having amassed enough parts over the years, Thorne said it takes him about 30 minutes to fix a watch from start to finish, as he usually has the right parts on-hand to repair just about anything.
He noted that Swiss watches are the highest-quality timepieces he’s encountered, as they are made to last and not mass-manufactured with the cheapest possible parts like most of today’s watches sold in chain stores. Thorne said only fine jewelers sell higher-quality watches now, and that those purchased in big-box retail stores are basically disposable because of the way they are made. He also noted that some of the newer watches powered by batteries have been shown to potentially cause cancer through the chemicals that seep out over time.
He said battery-operated watches can start to corrode inside and slowly express those chemicals outside the watch, which he said can be absorbed into the skin via sweat and hair follicles and potentially cause cancer. Thorne said he personally prefers kinetic watches, which are powered by nothing more than the movement of the wearer’s arm.
The Thornes, who have only lived in New Carlisle for the past five years, are already known by some in their neighborhood as people to count on when times get rough. Thorne said he has befriended a couple of families in the Mexican community that he likes to help as needed.
“God has blessed me in so many ways—me and Alma like to go out to eat, and we’ll buy lunch for someone who looks like they could use it,” he said. “We also like to help out some of the Mexican families when they get laid off at the nursery and don’t have anywhere else to go.”
While time obviously plays an active role in Thorne’s life, he said he dearly misses time spent with his children and grandchildren, as they all live in Florida now.
“They call me every week, and we all visit when we can, but I really do miss spending time with them,” said Thorne.
