Robert, the time keeper from Chennai

Some chimes remind you of old music being played. When the arrow in the Steeple clock hits 12, the clock starts clanging, reminding you of the chiming of the distant church bells from the blockbuster Sound of Music.

The unique collection can be traced back to England, America, France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Japan, Italy and Russia. Many date back to over 150 years.

Kennedy has been collecting all types of clocks from the age of 16. Now 52, he has nearly 300 pendulum clocks and 37 chiming clocks in his collection. Then there are three marine clocks, eight anniversary clocks, 11 table clocks and 10,700 timepieces. He also claims to have the oldest handmade clock, roughly 250 years old and sourced from England.

It all began in 1932, when an Englishman gifted his grandfather an American pendulum clock called 'Ansonia'. From then on he developed this passion for collecting clocks. "At the age of 16, I had only three clocks. By 1993, I had 34 different kinds of clocks. Often it happened that I did not have money to buy some antique clock that I wanted desperately. I took some amount from the school fee of my daughter," he confesses.

After working in a computer firm, he later started his own business of selling computers and spent considerable time looking for clocks. Most of them he collected from scrap dealers.

"Nowadays because of the Internet, people know how valuable these clocks are and charge exorbitant amounts. So I can't afford it anymore," he said. He had bought most of his collection at a maximum cost of Rs 6,000-7,000 per piece.

Pendulum clocks were invented by the British and need to be wound many times during the day, he said. On the other hand, the Germans came up with a Marine clock and an anniversary clock. In case of the Marine clocks, no winding is required as it is supported by balance wheels. If one wound the German anniversary clock on their birthday, there would be no need to wind the clock again until the next birthday.