Michael Lynch’s workshop is not silent — dozens of clocks tick in a pleasant chorus that almost sounds like trickling water. Occasionally they chime, their deep tones ringing out through the workshop where he spends his time restoring antique clocks.

“It’s more than clock repair, it’s the restoration of several disciplines — you’ve got the case, you’ve got the dials, you’ve got the artwork, you’ve got the movement, you’ve got the glass, you’ve got tablets, you’ve got all kinds of things, “Lynch said. “Restoration is about putting it back, more or less, the way it was, or the way people remember it.”

Lynch said he deals with sentiment as much as he deals with clocks.

“People bring clocks in that have belonged to their father, grandfather, great grandfather and even earlier than that,” Lynch said. “I have people who come in and say, ‘I remember this. I grew up with it on my grandfather’s shelf and this is how I remember it. I want it to be the way it was when I was a little child.’ So, I talk with them and figure out what I need to do.”

Lynch said he has been working with clocks for over 40 years. His interest was born from seeing his uncle’s clock collection as a child, as well as parents’ and grandparents’ antique collections, which included clocks. He also restored some furniture but then he started working with clocks — taking them apart and putting them back together again.

“I was fascinated with the fact that all of these interests that I have seem to be culminated into one unit — a clock. You have the metal work and the woodwork and the finishing and the artwork,” Lynch said. “I have an appreciation for history and story. These clocks carry as much as a story because they are the one thing that families pass down from generation to generation.”

Then, when he lived in Minnesota in the 1990s, he used to visit a watchmaker, who eventually gave Lynch a job doing restoration.

“He’s the one that taught me techniques of clockmaking. If I tore something up, he’d show me how to fix it and put it back together,” Lynch said.

Lynch’s home is also filled with clocks — including many from his hometown, including the clocks from the paper mill, depot, barber shop, high school and Methodist church. His home is decorated with 40-50 clocks, each of which has a story and a history.

It’s the stories behind the clocks that keep Lynch interested. In his workshop sits a clock from about 1825.

“When I opened it to assess the movement, it had a little note: ‘Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m., the clock is set.’ I interpreted that to mean that at some point in the 19th century, someone out of the emotion of the moment set the clock to the time that Abraham Lincoln died, and the clock has been set at 7:22 all those years,” Lynch said. “That is the kind of thing that gets me up in the morning.”

He also enjoys a challenge.

“I find some personal satisfaction in dealing with the impossible,” Lynch said, referencing an alabaster clock that was dropped and shattered into a thousand pieces. “The family brought me a box of chips and pieces and I said, ‘Let me work on this.’ I pulled that all back together and filled in the holes with epoxy and when they came to pick it up, I loved that moment of awe, when they said, ‘I can’t believe this.’”

After showing me his workshop, Lynch took me into his home, where he showed me the highlights of his clock collection, which includes many rare antique clocks. What was most interesting to me, however, was hearing Lynch talk about his collection and the passion and love he holds for the timepieces.

“Clocks are important,” Lynch said. “They’re often given as gifts for important occasions — weddings, anniversaries, births, graduations. And they’re passed down through generations of families. Each clock tells time, but it also tells a story.”