Watches I Have Known

This watch, old, out of date, obsolete, too heavy, ugly by my standards, had been “wounded” at the Battle of Gettysburg, during the Civil War… The tale continued that after a “lifetime” the Southerners retreated, the battle done. Only then was it found that the watch had indeed been shot, but had saved the life of its owner.

Watch the generations unfold in the beautiful new memoir, Watches I Have Known.

Written by Barry J. Marcus, with help from his daughter, Julie Campisi, this stunning retrospect recalls Barry’s sixty-eight-year career as a master watchmaker.

As watches come and go from his workbench, Barry meets a host of vibrant characters whose incredible stories will inspire, sadden, and thrill you. With a firm belief that the owners sometimes need fixing just as much as, if not more than, the watch itself, this humble watchmaker acts as a healer to objects and people alike.

From the watch of a man who rescued his grandparents from a devastated Italian village to the timepiece given to a man as a gift inside a concentration camp, these true tales are sure to move you as Barry reflects on the nature of human kindness, forgiveness, and time itself.