SAN DIEGO - A 102-year-old outdoor clock in downtown San Diego returned to service Thursday after a two-month tune-up, as the 98-year-old great grandson of the clock's maker looked on.
The Jessop's Clock, a 22-foot-tall timepiece owned by Jessop's Jewelers, stopped working in April.
It hadn't been refurbished since it was moved to Westfield Horton Plaza in 1985, and underwent a $25,000 to $30,000 overhaul, which included repainting the dials and outer stand and redoing the gold plating as well as repairing the original gears, according to the store.
The project was paid for by the Jessop family, which still owns the clock and operates jewelry stores in downtown San Diego and Coronado.
A photograph taken in 1915 shows the clock and Jessop employees. Joseph Jessop is in the front row (next to the clock).On hand at the event to restart the clock was 98-year-old David Jessop Jr., the great grandson of the clock's maker.
The clock was first located in front of the first Jessop's Jewelers store on Fifth Avenue in 1907, before being moved to another storefront in 1937. It was brought to Horton Plaza when the shopping mall opened in 1985.
