Did this clock belong to JFK? Inside one man’s decades-long obsession

Bill Anderson was close to 70 when he first noticed the clock.

It looked like the wheel of a ship, a kitchy decor you can see in a maritime -themed bar. But he pulled to him because of the producer.

Chelsea Clock Co. is famous for its designs and sensitivities. The company’s watches could be found in the Navy Warships during the World War II and decorated the fireplace, walls and tables in the White House for the presidents. Dwight Eisenhower – to Joe Biden.

Anderson, a retired watchmaker and collector, was particularly interested in the base of the Chelsea comet carved with the initials “JFK”.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy?

Although the monitoring collectors were obsessed with famous property and a Camelot connection is very important, the expectation of a salary day was just part of the charm for Anderson.

Bill Anderson, a retired watch manufacturer, has more than 200 hours, including the Chelsea -comet star with a plaque with a “JFK” engraving.

(By Bill Anderson’s permission)

Mystery of the Provenence of the Clock – probably a real agreement? – He played his life for years. “It’s a good game I’ve come here,” Anderson said.

In 1999, Clock, Wellesley, Mass.

In the past years, 95 -year -old Anderson tears the hidden world of watch collectors. AVI would take him to the online message panels of time and time enthusiasts and John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Eventually, an old limestone mine in rural Pennsylvania will lead to a refrigerator under 200 feet from the ground.

Anderson may not use the word “obsession için to describe its interest in JFK clock, but others may use it. All the decades he tries to reveal his background are almost evidence of gravity traction.

Anderson, who runs a grocery store with their parents, grew up in Ore, Roseburg in the south of Eugene. In the late 1940s, he left only a quarter of the University of Oregon and Elgin National Watch Co.

Anderson’s mother’s grandfather was in trade. Im I leaned over the clock’s counter and watched him as a little boy, ”he explained. “He allowed me to have an alarm clock … This was his beginning.”

Over time, Anderson became a retail officer who helped to close the jewels and watch the stores and sell the remaining inventories. Along the way, Anderson got married and founded a family. He gained fame as an honest broker – because he could determine the value of goods that others cannot sell.

“Bill people are like George Washington – you know, he said, ‘I can’t say anything like this.’ ‘

In 1974, Anderson, Baker City paid $ 15,000 by selling his best for the inventory of a jeweler in Ore and bringing residues home. Forty years later, he came across them while cleaning between the ceiling; There was an old football helmet among the goods.

It turned out to be one rare spalding head cable bundle From the early 1900s. It is not believed to exist at most 10, and Anderson sold it for about $ 14,000.

He maintained more than 200 watches for his collection, including several Chelsea, and watched the prices of celebrities’ watches in the last few decades.

The market is particularly strong for those with ties with Kennedys. Jacqueline Kennedy’s Cartier tank Sold for about 380,000 dollars In 2017 and JFK’s Omega 420,000 dollars brought In 2005.

“With Kennedy, you get the highest impact factor for any political figure with Kennedy, Pa said Paul Boutros, who chaired the US monitoring business for a London -based auction house.

Anderson knew that he could not confirm the ownership, that would be a blessing – perhaps as a clockist and collector, a coverstone on his legacy. The first thing he did was to contact Chelsea to ask for the origin of the clock.

When it arrived, the name of the original recipient’s name was marked as “no registration”. Could this be a VIP customer? JFK’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., visited the company’s center in Massachusetts (hosting Kennedy clan), where he bought a few products.

Chelsea has published a feature about the website on the website Master Clockmaker Jean Yeo He touched on this famous connection. He started to work in Chelsea in 1951, “all Kennedys came here” and received a special praise for the patriarch of the family and called him a “good man”.

But Anderson wasn’t sure what he would think of. The increasing charm of the clocks with the A-Liste History convinced people to watch suspicious clocks.

A rolex that is said to be a gift from Marilyn Monroe to Kennedy in 2005 Auction for $ 120,000. 45. On the occasion of birthday, the Golden Day date, which was allegedly given by the actress to Kennedy in 1962, contained an inscription “Jack / Always / Marilyn with love”. However collector And the clock academicians said that the watch contains a serial number. 1965.

At some point in his search, Anderson made a breakthrough in 1954 when he discovered a online photo of his future president and wife. He was positioned for an hour on a table and looked like Anderson’s comet, but it was impossible to notice any engraving with a low -resolution picture.

Then you. John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline, in 1954 in their homes at Washington DC. Chelsea tailed star watch sits at the table.

(Bettmann Archive)

James Archer Abbott, co -author “Design of Camelot: Kennedy White House restoration and heritage,” He warned that the comet exhibited in the White House was not the recording of the comet and that it would probably be allocated for Kennedy’s presidential library. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum representative, said he had no registration or information at the comet clock.

However, Chelsea President Tony Lachapelle was open to the possibility of once belonging to Kennedy.

“Someone who has nothing better to do in their lives JFK, Jackie, and can they take a photo of this watch and try to take a comet clock? I think they can do it?” “We are looking [Anderson’s ] We look at the clock and that photo [Kennedy’s clock] Sit on the table and is quite likely in our opinion ”they were one and the same.

For years, Anderson tried to find the original high -resolution image, but he could not lift anything. Nobody seemed to know the source of the photo. Tens of thousands of photos of Kennedy were scanned online. Or more.

But in the end, a serpentine, after a multi -year effort, was finally revealed where the original negative was. The facility, known as a Boyers, Pa., Demir Mountain, was in a photo archive, which is a great place that protects all kinds of records, safely, For the federal government.

The Bettman Archive, directed by Getty Images, contains millions of photos, is located in a part of the mountain with more than 10 times stories underground.

Last year, he found an archivist negative and brought him to one of Bettman’s laboratories, where he placed him in a flat -bed browser. Soon, a new, ultra -resolution version of the 1954 picture shone on the computer screen. The clarity was remarkable.

The comet can be clearly seen in the photo, including the wooden base of the watch.

It was empty.

When he heard the news – the phone – Anderson became silent.

But he did not offer any lament and said he was not disappointed later: “Not a little.” Especially his wife Sallie realized how important the prey was to him after he died in July 2023. He was 93 years old.

“He understood that I love such things,” he said.

The research made a dark time a little easier.

During a recent interview, Anderson sat at the dining room table with a series of photographs of his wife. The comet was there. During last year, he announced that he wanted them to choose from each of his five children when he died of his collection.

Marilyn Monroe, who was seen in the 1962 photograph, is said to have given President Kennedy a Rolex with a auction for $ 120,000.

(Cecil Stoghton / White House Photos / John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum / Associated Press)

Orum I don’t know how many kilometers further on the road there are more, ”he said.

However, Anderson has not yet offered a comet. “I don’t know why this hasn’t happened yet,” he said.

Mike Anderson, one of his sons, is a watchmaker Anderson Jewelers Corvallis, ore. “There is no doubt that he wants to connect in my mind [the clock] For JFK – he wants to believe it is on his desk, the young Anderson said. That’s what pushes him. “

After all these years, Anderson still likes to chase.