Time is running out for a downtown Orillia establishment of 24 years.
Rick and Aime Brownbill, the owners of Perfect Timing, are liquidating their equipment and hoping to sell the business soon.
Rick, 66, has been a watchmaker for 52 years. He got his start by knocking on doors in downtown North Bay while looking for a job.
“I walked into a jewelry store and asked for a job,” he said. “I was only 15 at the time. He suggested watchmaking, and I had never heard of the trade before.”
The jewelry store owner sent Rick to George Brown College for three years, where he learned the trade.
“It’s the most eclectic trade there is,” he said. “You can do anything from working on antique wooden-geared clocks to brand-new, state-of-the-art electronics.”
When Rick learned the trade in the early ’70s, he learned how to make parts for old watches and how to diagnose electronics.
“If it’s repairable, I can repair it,” he said. “I enjoy the restoration of older pieces more. I enjoy the challenge of some of the pieces that people really have attachments to that you can restore. It can bring a lot of life back to people as well as parts of the watches.”
Perfect Timing started with trade work only in Barrie, but the Brownbills knew they eventually wanted to get into the retail side of the business. They considered several locations but decided on Orillia.
“All of our clients in Barrie basically told us we don’t want to go to Orillia because we wouldn’t be accepted there,” Rick said. “When we first moved here and were painting and working on the store, people would literally stop us to say how glad they were that we were coming to Orillia.”
Aime, 67, says Orillia has been the perfect place for her and her husband to carve out a long career.
“We’ve seen little children come in and taught them how to wind up pocket watches,” she said. “The next thing you know, they are grown up and are bringing their fiancé in to buy them watches.”
It’s been an honour for them to serve generations of Orillia families, but they feel it’s time to step away.
“I’ve seen so many stories of watchmakers working until they absolutely can’t,” Rick said. “Then, they can’t really enjoy their retirement.”
Watchmaking takes a lot of dexterity and hand-eye co-ordination, as well as focus and concentration, he added.
“Those are all things that we lose when we get older,” he said. “I don’t want to be in a position where I might damage somebody’s timepiece.”
The Brownbills will take some time to adapt to retirement. Rick has never had more than two consecutive weeks off in a calendar year during his entire working life.
“The first thing we are going to do is take a little bit of a holiday in Florida,” Aime said. “We will take some time to breathe, relax, and then we will revamp.”
Rick also enjoys working on computers and will dive deeper into that hobby during retirement.
“I’ve always been a fixer and a repair person,” he said. “I think I will continue to do those sorts of things.”
The Brownbills have three children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In retirement, they will spend more time with family.
“That is the one thing I’m so looking forward to,” Rick said. “In retail, you don’t get Christmas off, you work extra hours. I’m really looking forward to having Christmas with our family.”
Perfect Timing, located at 106 Mississaga St. E., has been for sale for a couple of years but has yet to find an interested buyer. The Brownbills would be more than happy to mentor and help the right person get started. Everything in the building has been for sale since April and merchandise is 40 per cent off.
“We finally got to the point earlier this year where we decided that the best thing to do is to just start liquidating everything,” Rick explained. “We will see how long it takes and will go from there.”
Rick thanks his customers for trusting him over the years with their pieces, especially the sentimental ones that hold a lot of value. His legacy will live on once Perfect Timing officially closes. He designed Reichart wrist watches, which are made in Orillia and will be mechanical for another 200-years.
