Miniature Clocks
As chilly Britain prepares to spring into summer this week-end by putting the clocks forward an hour, spare a thought for Malcolm Hall.
As well as being a collector of clocks, he is also one of the world's greatest exponents in the art of making miniature ones for dolls houses.
Sometimes no bigger than a £1 coin but costing £500, they are regarded as the Rolls Royces of the Lilliputian industry because they actually work.
'Putting them backwards or forwards can take some time, if you will pardon the expression,' says Mr Hall, 51, from Leicestershire as clocks chimed away in the background. 'They don't all even tell the same time - because some, for instance, are on Chicago time because I sell them in America too.
'Fortunately I have got pretty myopic eyesight and have always been good with my hands.
'But building the clocks is incredibly fiddly work and if you drop something in the process you usually spend more time searching for it than it actually takes to make the finished article.'
Mr Hall, who trained as an industrial engraver, took up making minute minutehands and hand-painted dials as a profession five years ago.
He said: 'I used to make gun metal moulds for the soap dish industry, but I have always been interested in clocks and my hobby was restoring full-sized ones. Then I saw how popular dolls house collecting had become and so started on miniature ones.
'I don't think there is anyone doing accurate representations like mine. Generally they just buy a standard clock face and stick it on. Mine are hand-painted and based on original designs. I also make sure the hands are correct as well.
'I don't know where my fascination comes from - it's just things mechanical in general. I used to tinker with cars until I found that it was too cold to be lying around underneath them. Then I started buying old clocks and restoring them. I've got too many, to be honest, and they clutter up my home.'
To make his accurate representations, Mr Hall, married with two daughters, takes the measurements from a full sized clock and then scales them down to 12th scale because that is the size of most dolls houses.
Sourcing wood can be difficult because walnut, for instance, has too big a grain to be miniaturised and so he uses imbuya wood - known as Brazilian walnut - instead.
The most expensive clocks, which take a week to make, involve intricate marquetry and parquetry techniques to inlay shapes and flowers and shells. Dials are engraved and hand-painted.
Examples of his work include a tiny English dome bracket clock, made in ebony, with an engraved and silvered dial and brass hands and fittings.
The clocks - he can also make them in 24th scale - also include a Welsh parquetry longcase clock, a replica 19th century wall clock and a copy of an 1815 barometer. Unlike the clocks, which are powered by wristwatch mechanisms and batteries, the barometer doesn't work.
Probably just as well, given the week-end weather forecast.