Father time: Pakistan's lonely clock collector

Gul Kakar from Quetta has been collecting antique timepieces for over 18 years, some of which date back to 1850.
Published December 10, 2021

The tick-tock of hundreds of antique clocks fills a small hall in Quetta, where collector Gul Kakar swears he will spend all the time he has left caring for them.

Delicate wristwatches, weighty pocket pieces and battered table models clutter every surface, while the pendulums of wall-mounted and standalone grandfather clocks sway as their deep bongs mark each new hour.

“I know their language,” Kakar, a 44-year-old police officer, tells AFP during a visit to his collection. “They tell me their problems, and I understand.”

This picture, taken on November 26, 2021, shows antique clocks from Gul Kakar's collection at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP
This picture, taken on November 26, 2021, shows antique clocks from Gul Kakar's collection at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP

Kakar's collection, some of which dates back to 1850, is housed inside the city's police headquarters compound.

That means they are behind heavy gates and high concrete blast walls in a province that, for years, has been rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist violence.

The tight security may contribute to the lack of traffic, though Kakar admits he has found few other aficionados to admire his museum and there are hardly any visitors.

“People in Quetta don't show much interest,” he confesses.

In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, collector Gul Kakar shows his antique clocks at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP
In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, collector Gul Kakar shows his antique clocks at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP

In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, collector Gul Kakar shows his antique clocks at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP
In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, collector Gul Kakar shows his antique clocks at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP

Kakar's obsession began decades ago, when two family clocks fell out of order and were sent for repairs.

“I started taking an interest ... then I got the idea that I should get more clocks.”

Soon he began collecting in earnest and his museum today is the result of more than 18 years of scouring the internet for antiques — even persuading friends overseas to buy secondhand pieces and ship them to him.

He has also lost count of how many he has — or how much he spends on his collection — but income from a family-run landholding means a “major portion” of his police salary goes to clocks.

Oldest clock

“For as long as I am alive, I will take care of them,” says Kakar, dressed in a smart black vest and carrying a brass-topped walking stick.

He admits, however, that nobody in his family shares the passion, and that after his death, the collection may simply be sold.

This picture, taken on November 26, 2021, shows an antique clock from Gul Kakar's collection at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP
This picture, taken on November 26, 2021, shows an antique clock from Gul Kakar's collection at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP

In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, a visitor looks at an antique clock collection at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound in Quetta. — AFP
In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, a visitor looks at an antique clock collection at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound in Quetta. — AFP

He is ready to donate everything if an official or the private sector steps in to fund a museum in his name.

“I have not received any such offer so far,” Kakar admits.

Despite all the pieces, he still yearns for one last item — a grandfather clock similar to a famed 19th century timepiece kept in the Jacobabad city of Sindh.

In this picture, taken on November 30, 2021, an employee maintains an antique clock, handmade in 1847 by East India Company colonial administrator John Jacob, in a government building in Jacobabad, Sindh. — AFP
In this picture, taken on November 30, 2021, an employee maintains an antique clock, handmade in 1847 by East India Company colonial administrator John Jacob, in a government building in Jacobabad, Sindh. — AFP

That clock — said by some to be the oldest in what is present-day Pakistan — was handmade in 1847 by John Jacob, the East India Company colonial administrator who gave the town its name.

Kakar lights up as he explains the mechanism of the clock, whose pendulum is sunk 32 feet deep in a well.

He has never seen it but is keen to one day.

“I would give up my entire collection for that one. “


Header image: In this picture, taken on November 26, 2021, collector Gul Kakar is surrounded by his antique clocks as he poses at a museum housed inside Quetta's tribal police headquarters compound. — AFP