Even after 45 years as a clockmaker, Kevin Moore loves the challenge of building and repairing clocks. Solving the puzzle keeps him busy at Moore Time, the Old Town Spring-based clock-repair shop he owns with his wife, Kathy.


“The engineering between different manufacturers from all over the world [is challenging],” Moore said. “They don’t make their clocks the same. The parts aren’t the same. The basic principal is there, but how they apply it to their clock is like [how] Ford and Chevy don’t make the same car.”


The Moores rebuild and repair grandfather, cuckoo and decorative clocks, including some pieces that were constructed more than 200 years ago. The couple handpicks timepieces from around the country as well as Europe and Asia, Moore said.


There are no owner’s manuals to consult or manufacturers to call for clocks more than a century old. Kevin estimates he creates at least three custom fitted parts per day to rebuild an exterior frame or repair the interior mechanics that keep the hands moving.   


“[Customers will] have grandma’s clock that they inherited that’s been up in the attic for a while,” he said. “They’ll bring it in, and we have to tear it down and rebuild it and restore the case. We can do just little things or a complete job.”


The clock shop offers more than antique clocks: It also sells watches, decorative clocks and music boxes.


Moore Time has conducted business in Old Town Spring for 15 years following a move from its original location in Kingwood. Moore said he chose Old Town Spring because his business fits the nature of the eclectic shopping district well, and the location was closer to the center of his customer base.


The long drive to Kingwood was a chore for his customers in Champion Forest, The Woodlands and Spring, an issue that prompted the Moores to  move the shop to Old Town Spring.


Most of Moore Time’s business comes via niche shoppers who find it through search engines, but the store also carries items to service the foot traffic from Old Town Spring customers interested in buying batteries, globes, figurines and other collectible items.


The store sells distinctive wares ranging from an Italian-made figurine replica of the Ark of the Covenant to steampunk antiques.


I’m not a walk-by business,” Moore said. “[Customers] will deliberately come to me. There aren’t that many of us.


For Moore, clock making was a hobby that became a profession. He picked up horology—or the art of making clocks and watches—as a part-time job to put himself through college. However, soon after graduating from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, Moore realized clockmaking was the career he wanted to pursue.


“Clocks are more fun,” he said.