In the historic district of Safranbolu, 65-year-old clock repairman Mehmet Yapıcı has been keeping timepieces ticking for half a century.
Yapıcı began his craft at age 15 as an apprentice in his father’s shop in the northern city of Karabük. Over the years, he honed his skills and became a master of the trade.
Working from an eight-square-meter shop in Safranbolu’s Historic Bazaar, Yapıcı continues to repair and maintain both antique and modern clocks, serving loyal customers who have trusted him for decades.
“Clockmaking is my father’s trade,” Yapıcı told Anadolu Agency (AA) in an interview on Friday. “It’s a craft that usually passes from father to son. You can’t easily train an apprentice in this job – it takes patience and perseverance. If it’s in your heart, you learn it; if not, there’s no way.”
Recalling his early years, Yapıcı said there were once three clockmakers in the Historic Bazaar. “One was my father. The other two have passed away, and no new shops have opened since. I’m the only clockmaker left in Safranbolu’s Historic Bazaar,” he said.
With a family tradition in clockmaking spanning a century, Yapıcı says he can fix nearly any timepiece. “Old or new, it doesn’t matter – we can repair them all. People know us all over Türkiye. They send us clocks with missing parts from across the country, and we repair and return them,” he said, adding that he also sells antique and modern clocks.
Yapıcı has also repaired historical clocks in the district’s old mosques, including the sundial in the courtyard of Köprülü Mehmet Paşa Mosque and the clock in the historic clock tower.
Offering advice to younger generations, Yapıcı said, “Whatever the profession, young people should learn it thoroughly. In our childhood, clockmaking was highly respected – learning a trade was like earning a golden bracelet you could always rely on.”
