Even less than Russian and British watchmaking, Canadian watchmaking gets talked about extremely little; especially in a historical context. There have historically often been failures for Canadian watch and clock companies, only few have been around long enough to make note of. We’ve mentioned Marathon before, and there’s an interesting story around that brand and the family that owned it; but going back just a bit further in time we find ourselves in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario where a Swiss immigrant founded a very important Canadian watch company.
Arthur Pequegnat was born to Ulysses Pequegnat and Louise Verpillot in 1851 in Switzerland and in 1874 moved to Canada with his family. During his youth, his family started importing watches from Switzerland to sell in Canada; with Arthur and his brothers setting up their own watch and jewelry stores around Ontario eventually. Arthur was the oldest brother and already the leader of their business group in his early twenties.
Then, after success with their stores, Arthur entered the bicycle trade – which was booming in the late 19th century. He founded ‘The Berlin & Racycle Manufacturing Co.’ and did well, manufacturing his own bicycles in a factory and selling them at a tidy profit. However, the bicycle market soon saw a decline and so he repurposed his production facilities to make clocks at the very beginning of the 20th century. This is when the legendary Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company was born.
Arthur Pequegnat table and wall clocks, circa 1920s
The company made their own clock movements and eventually was able to stop using third-party suppliers for the wooden cases, making their own in their own facility and therefore producing everything in-house, in Canada! One thing that was also notable was that every clock had its own ‘persona’ with unique names matching the largest cities in Canada and other landmarks. This was part of what made and makes their clocks so collectible and long-living!
The company ceased clock production in the early 1940s after shortages in metals led to stoppage in production (initially temporary and permanent; caused by WWII). Nonetheless, Arthur’s son Marcel was President of the company until the mid-1960s when it was shuttered.
Arthur Pequegnat portrait / Credit: Miller & Miller Auctions
Ultimately, Arthur died on August 11th, 1927 from a heart attack. He was 75. This after having contributed significantly to the development of the watch and clock industry in Canada – with one of the few successful and long-lasting brands that we’ve had!
In Canadian history, Arthur is remembered as a watchmaker and businessman, but also as a politician – having served as a city councilor for Kitchener between 1894-1895. For his achievements he was inducted into the Waterloo Hall of Fame in 2012. His son Marcel studied engineering at the University of Toronto and became a civil engineer, working for the Kitchener Water Commission. Ironically, the former A. Pequegnat Clock Co. headquarters in Kitchener were replaced with a Kitchener Water Commission building in the mid-1960s after the Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company ceased to exist.
By: Andres Ibarguen