Humans have been obsessed with measuring time for millennia, from the Egyptian water clock to portable sundials. When Peter Henlein invented the pocket watch in 1510, we started keeping track of time in style. And look at us now. Our phones are clocks, our watches are phones, but when the battery dies, we still have the urge to figure out what time it is. Which is why there’s a place for those who want a fashionable timepiece that doesn’t buzz when it needs attention.
Since 1962, Dykman’s Time Shop has prided itself on providing expert knowledge and customer service for those seeking a timepiece that’s…well…timeless. It started with Woody and Juanita Dykman at their State Street location and continued when Jeff and Patty Plance bought the shop in 1986 and moved to Lakepoint Commons in 1990. Glenn Gardner then bought the place in 2002, and his daughter, Tracy Schoohs, purchased it from him in 2015.
What has changed over those 60 years is the increased scarcity of watchmakers. It used to be that every jewelry store would have a watchmaker on staff, but that’s not always the case these days. Tracy tells me jewelers often send customers her way when there’s a problem with their timepiece, no matter what it is.
“There are a lot of people coming these days for heritage pieces,” says Tracy. “They’ve found or they’ve gotten grandpa’s watch or grandma’s watch, and they just want to restore it. We do that and a lot of clocks.” Many customers come in with something sentimental, and Tracy wants people to rest assured she’s going to treat it with the care it deserves.
The staff at Dykman’s are the reason for that customer trust, and those customers come back time and time again. Tracy not only appreciates the experience her staff bring to the table, but goes out of her way to let them know they are the reason for the store’s success. “Paul Donahue has been here 20 some years fixing and selling watches. He is a wealth of information about watches—so good with the customers. And then CJ Schnier has been here for over 40 years. She has so much experience with watch bands and bracelets. She loves the customers and seeing all the different watches and clocks that come in. And then Salem has been with us for 10 years. He’s so good at making customers feel good; he takes great care of them. Raymond is a newer member of the team. He’s a watchmaker from the Philippines. He’s good at fixing many brands of watches. Everyone appreciates his big smile and friendly attitude. And then we have Anna. She’s very helpful with filling in and working with customers.”
Along with watch and clock repairs, Dykman’s is also a great place to access a few fantastic lines of clocks and watches, including Howard Miller and Seiko for clocks and Citizen, Tissot, Tense Wooden Watches, Bulova, and 40 Nine for watches. “Bertucci is a local brand we carry that’s been made in Illinois for 20 years,” says Paul. “They’re a great price for something that lasts 10 times longer than a normal watch.”
Buying a nice watch is generally still a prestige thing. It’s something nice you buy for someone else or for yourself to mark an accomplishment, show you care, or complete a look. Dykman’s staff have noticed a younger generation of people coming in looking for mechanical watches to stand out against smart watches.
Paul, as a watchmaker, acknowledges the efforts of various brands to create mechanical timepieces with crystals on the back to show off the inner workings. “Prior to that, we were the only ones who could see all that beautiful work,” says Paul. “When they spend all this time and attention on detail making the inside as pretty as the outside, everyone should get to appreciate it.”
It’s funny that before talking to the team at Dykman’s, I’d have thought artisan-made watches and clocks were something of the past. The clocks I have around my house weren’t purchased with much thought, but maybe that was too dismissive on my part. I remember as a grade schooler marveling at my grandparents’ cuckoo clock and their grandfather clock. Dykman’s and other watchmakers are effectively keeping something alive that deserves recognition not only for its artistry, but the ingenuity of the craft itself.
Paul says, “We do it all. Everything from while-you-wait repairs, easy things like battery changes, to complete rebuilds. We can do cosmetic refinishes of timepieces as well, which I do by hand. We service clocks. We do house calls. We try to assess a customer’s needs, ask all the pertinent questions, and then we go through the watch top to bottom to make sure there’s nothing that got missed. We always doublecheck our work before it goes out the door.”
Dykman’s even has their own line of watches, which they started for their 40th anniversary. They use the same Swiss parts found in other watches, but because they’re assembled in the United States, they’re roughly a third of the cost. Every Dykman brand watch is surgical-grade stainless steel and has sapphire crystal, which is highly scratch resistant. If you go with one of their battery-powered watches, you’ll also get free batteries for forever.
Watchmaking feels like one of those old-world professions. In fact, one of my friends likened it to a cobbler. To me, performing such a specialized skill by hand equates to a sense of pride in the work being done. Paul encourages anyone interested in watchmaking to pursue the career, saying, “If you’re a young person and you want to get into the trades, if you have good eye-hand coordination, if you think like an engineer, if you become a watchmaker, you’re never going to be unemployed. … It’s 100 percent job placement before you graduate.”
Throughout the interview, I often felt like I was in another world. So many old clocks and watches ticking into a mechanical hum accented by the occasional chiming of yet-to-be-synchronized hours. I think it’s incredible that these sorts of establishments exist right here in Madison. Not every jewelry store gets to feel like it’s part museum. If you ever find yourself in the area, stop by and take a look around. As Tracy likes to say, “We always have time for you at Dykman’s.”
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who believes when figuring out how much time you’ve wasted, it’s important to measure twice.
Dykman’s Time Shop
2701 University Avenue, Suite C
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 233-1444
dykmans.com