Mumbaikar climbs rare bandwagon

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Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and (top) the British musical clock, one of the rare clocks housed there
Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad and (top) the British musical clock, one of the rare clocks housed there

Hyderabad’s Salar Jung Museum plans to evaluate & tabulate its antique clock collection.

The Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, will begin work on evaluating and tabulating its clock collection, considered by clock enthusiasts as among the finest in India. Speaking to dnaover the phone from Hyderabad, Dr Nagender Reddy, director, Salar Jung museum said that this would be the biggest such exercise since the clocks were taken over from various private collectors in the 1960s.

“We want to do it in a scientific way, to add value to what is already a glorious collection of more than 400 of the rarest clocks in the country. It is a tedious and delicate process which includes the showcases that hold these clocks, evaluating the individual parts. All of this has to be done in such a way that no damage, whatsoever, comes to the clocks,” said Reddy. The process would be done along with the Lucknow-based National Research Laboratory for Conservation (NRLC), which is the apex body in the country for the conservation of cultural heritage.

The plan to evaluate the clock collection has already begun creating excitement among watch-lovers with Dr Reddy admitting that several people had contacted the museum to be part of the process. However, he said that it calls for a lot of formalities at various levels of the government as outsiders are not allowed to be part of these processes.

dna has learnt that among the people who have shown willingness to be part of the process is a senior railway officer from Mumbai. Saurabh Mitra, an Indian railway accounts service officer with Western Railway. Mitra, a watch enthusiast and collector, however, refused to comment.

About Salar Jung Museum
The museum was established in 1951. A major portion of the collection was acquired by Salar Jung III. In 1958, it was taken over by the Indian government. It is now run by an autonomous board chaired by the governor of Andhra Pradesh.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Mumbai> Report / by Binoo Nair / Place: Mumbai, Agency: DNA / Friday – November 08th, 2013