About Us
Willem and Viveca’s obsession with clocks was a ticking time bomb until they decided to turn their hobby into a profession and opened one of Toronto’s only antique clock shops. After years of collecting, Willem and Viveca had more than 300 working antique clocks ticking, tocking and chiming away in their home.
The obvious solution was to move their clocks out and into a showroom on Avenue Road near Old Orchard Grove in North Toronto. We had so much, the house was jam-packed and we wanted to share our love for the clocks with other people. On March 6, 2000 Viveca and Willem opened the warmly lit, two-room store.
Carrying a vast array of antique timepieces, their stock includes some of the biggest names in clocks including Pequegnat, Ansonia, Gilbert, Marti, Japy Freres, Meissen, Sevres, Kienzle, Haas, Elliot, Staartklok, Boulle, and Morbier. Willem and Viveca handpicks most from various corners of the world such as France, England, Holland, Austria, Germany, US and Scotland among others, but their largest inventory is saved for French clocks, which they refers to as “works of art”. Clocks from France are “very ornate, very nice accessories to a home”, they are a joy to work on, and they are well made. Some of them have lasted 200/300 years and with a little bit of care they can last another 100 years”. Many of these clocks are table or mantelpieces, but we also carry wall clocks, grandfather clocks, Cartel clocks, Wag on the walls, Carriage clocks, Traveler clocks, bracket clocks, porcelain clocks etc.
Beyond selling clocks, they also repairs them and does general maintenance, including lubricating the inner gears and replace missing parts. They even makes house calls to ensure a clock is set up and placed properly in their clients’ home.
Among the timepieces are many other decor pieces that Viveca collects, including mirrors, dinner sets, music boxes, Majolica, Royal Doulton, Minton, Dresden, Meissen but also some nice English and French furniture pieces.
While Viveca is happy to have most of the clocks out of the house and in a showroom, she was surprised at how much they had become part of their life. “This is the strange thing. We had all these clocks and we were always joking about clocks. And once we went on holiday and we couldn’t sleep because it was too quite in the hotel.”
Having been in business for over 10 years on Avenue Road, the storefront moved to a larger location with ample, convenient parking. As of March 2016, Antique Clocks & More is now located near Leslie & York Mills.
The New Address is: 1875 Leslie Street, Unit 19, North York, ON.
