Ballito’s very own Father Time shares watchmaking journey [Watch]

After fixing clocks and watches for more than 50 years, Charles Moodley still gets excited laying his hands on any time “machine” needing fine-tuning.

Moodley is arguably one of, if not the oldest, watchmaker in the country. The 85-year-old Tongaat resident has been a clock doctor since he was 12 years old.

It all began when his father’s watch broke, and since he was disabled and could not get it fixed, Moodley realised he had to do something because the watch was very special to his dad.

“I began collecting the equipment I thought I was going to need. I opened the watch, fixed it and it worked. My proud dad told everyone I could repair broken clocks and they began bringing in their clocks. I fixed the clocks and watches for free because I enjoyed it. It was a nice hobby for me,” said Moodley.

Noticing his skills, a watchmaker family introduced him to watchmakers and technicians from Switzerland who owned a watch store called Droz Bros in Durban.

He worked for them for 17 years, steadily saving his earnings to eventually buy his own equipment to start his business, Dynamic Watch and Clock Repairs, in Tongaat.

Owing to the high demand for his services, and his clients battling to find parking in the crowded town centre, he moved his business to Ballito.

Internationally the watch industry is going through its sharpest decline ever recorded over the last 80 years.

But this is not slowing down Moodley, who still receives many clocks brought by collectors, some even shipped from overseas.

The oldest clock he currently has is more than 100 years old.

He is proud that he managed to pass his knowledge on to his son, who is also a watchmaker in Durban.

Moodley is sad that the trade is in decline because of a changing world and a lack of new professional watchmakers entering the field as the old pros pass on, but he is not planning to retire anytime soon despite his age.

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