Collector auctions off 3356 timepieces

Tag : Wall Clocks

Every inch of wall and shelf space in Jent's Lehigh Acres home wascovered by every kind of clock you could imagine.
A classic grandfather clock stood near the front door.Old-fashioned alarm clocks encircled Jent's bathtub.
And the white, plastic-framed clock that hung in everyone'skindergarten classroom was next to a clock decorated with pressedwildflowers and a bee for a second hand.
Jent, 83, started buying clocks after his wife died.
"He was bored," said his son Larry Jent.
It took him three years to amass a 3,356-clock collection,according to his son.
Bob Jent, who is in poor health, recently moved to his son's homeat Lake Tahoe. His collection was auctioned off by HarrisonAuctions on Saturday at his home on Edelweiss Street.
Floyd Harrison, who led the auction, estimated it would take atleast five hours to auction off all the clocks.
"We've only got 3,000 more to go," he said after getting bids on aportion of the clocks in one room.
A few years ago, Bob Jent had all the clocks set to the right time,which led to an eruption of bings and bongs every hour.

I used to have to sleep with earplugs when I visited, his sonsaid.

But once his collection reached 1,000, Bob Jent realized all thenoise might be a bit much.

Jent used to make bimonthly trips to area thrift stores to gatherhis collection. Soon, thrift store employees began to recognizehim.

There were times when we used to go in a store and theyd haveclocks waiting for us, Larry Jent said.

At the auction, Joe Cherepy waited to place a bid, keeping his eyeon a few wood-framed wall clocks hanging in Jents living room.

This is extreme, Cherepy said.

Dianna Richter placed the fruits of her bidding, a number ofornamental gold clocks, in a cardboard box.

She and her husband were buying clocks to resell and keep.

Ive never seen so many clocks in all my life, even in a clockstore, she said.

Now that he's moved, is Bob Jent ready to start a new collection?

Well see, Larry Jent said.