John Reardon of Betteridge Jewelers presented "Time, Clocks and Patek Philippe Watches"

John Reardon, speaker at October 5 Kiwanis Meeting in Chatham

Antique watch and clock expert John Reardon led the audience in an entertaining “who owned this watch?” contest. He mentioned his new book “Patek Philippe in America Reference Guide Volume 1” which is getting favorable reviews in the press. During a brief introduction to the history of watches, he took the audience back to the late 16^th century when wealthy people showed them off as trophies.

He then held a contest where he described watches, gave a few clues and asked the audience to shout out the name of the owner of the watch. The first watch, owned by Marie Antoinette, took so long to make that she passed away before it was completed. A Swiss Patek Philippe watch was purchased by Queen Victoria in the 19th century at the Crystal Palace Exhibition.

Mr. Reardon gave interesting historical anecdotes surrounding the owners and their watches. Watches had a variety of features and capabilities matching needs of their owners. One owned by a blind man played chimes signaling hours. General McArthur had a watch showing the time in major cities around the world. The most expensive watch was sold at auction for $11,000,000.

The Dalai Llama, a self-trained watchmaker, was given a perpetual calendar Patek Philippe watch by President FDR and recently was given paperwork for his watch by President Obama. He still wears the watch. Howard Hughes owned and secretly gave away Patek Philippe watches to people on his staff.

A Patek Philippe clock was given to JFK following his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. Jackie Onassis donated it to the Presidential Library in Boston. Warren Buffett owned the last watch described by Mr. Reardon, who was given a huge round of applause by the audience for putting on such a delightful, fun program.