John Freeman’s latest historical “Legacy Book” is about the iconic Jessop Clock created by the eponymous Point Loma jewelry family, detailing the timepiece’s contribution to San Diego history past, present, and future.

Titled “Timeless Treasures: The Legacy of the Jessop family, Jessop’s Jewelers, and the world-famous Jessop Clock,” by now-retired jeweler Jim Jessop with John Freeman, the tome has been published by Amazon. It is 217 pages long and chock-full of historic photos, including a front-page view of the Jessop Clock in one of its former homes in downtown’s Horton Plaza.

Of “Timeless Treasures,” Freeman said: “Jim Jessop’s civic-minded ancestors first came here in 1892. The book tells the origins of his family’s jewelry stores over the decades. It also traces the history of the magnificent Jessop Clock, which stood for decades downtown, and ranks among the most enduring symbols of our city’s past. The clock will be refurbished as part of the San Diego History Center’s new fund-raising drive, serving as the museum’s centerpiece.”

Jim Jessop talked about “Timeless Treasures,” which details his family’s enduring contributions to the jewelry industry and the city. “This was a clock that was built by my great-grandfather, and he designed it himself,” said Jessop. “He had a jewelry shop in downtown San Diego, and the clock was built in that store.”

Of the impetus for building the family’s signature clock, Jim Jessop said his great-grandfather and his wife “had toured Switzerland and every nice jeweler had a clock in front of it. So he decided, if he was going to have a nice jewelry store, it should have a clock in front of it. But the difference between his clock and every other clock in the world is that he was a watchmaker, meaning he made pocket watches. And at the time all the parts were handmade.”

“They built it in downtown San Diego and set up a foundry behind the store where they made the big heavy brass wheels and things that were necessary to drive this clock,” Jim Jessop said. “He (great-grandfather) did all the calculating for the clock on a pencil and pad. He had no calculators. He didn’t even have a slide rule to work with. It was all done by his knowledge of clocks, and he made a clock that stands 22 feet high with the head of the clock about seven feet round, with four faces on it.

“The clock was finished in 1907. The towering clock became an icon for downtown San Diego. And it was in front of the store for 111 years.”

Concerning the Jessop Clock’s future, Jim Jessop said: “I’m in the process of trying to raise $4 million, hoping that I can endow the clock. So, as the family turns the clock over to the history center, we’ll have an endowment that will allow it to continue to be maintained, in the way the family wants it maintained, forevermore.”

THE JESSOP CLOCK

The one-of-a-kind Jessop Clock was designed and built in downtown San Diego by Joseph Jessop Sr. and was first placed on the street in front of the Jessop Jewelry store in 1907. There is no other clock like it in the world. It stayed in front of Jessop’s Jewelers for the next 111 years.

In 2018, the Jessop Clock was warehoused in eight huge crates. The Jessop family has committed to gifting the clock to the San Diego History Center, where it is now being stored. The history center is re-imagining itself by bringing its 100-plus years of museum archives squarely back into the 21st century.

The Jessop Clock will be centered in the center’s re-imagining, where circular steps will run from the winding room underneath the clock (never before shown to the public), up past the movement case, clock tower, to the clock’s huge round head, and to the gold eagle atop the clock. In the history center, the Jessop Clock will be permanently displayed for all San Diegans.

As the Jessop Clock is being given to the SDHC, the Jessop family needs to recondition the clock as the old girl’s age is showing. The family is raising $2 million for the moving and reconditioning of the clock. The family then needs to raise an additional $2 million to endow the clock in the museum in perpetuity. Donations can be made to the clock at https://sandiegohistory.org.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Freeman, a 1969 Point Loma High School graduate, was sports editor for the PLHS Pointer Press, a position foreshadowing his future in media and communications. A University of Arizona grad, Freeman has held marketing/communications roles with national firms including UC San Diego Extension. He spent five years as staff editor/writer with the NY Yankees, and was publications director of the National Basketball Association. He also spent 15 years as a nationally syndicated media columnist and sportswriter with the San Diego Union-Tribune. His ‘as-told-to’ books with notable San Diegans include “Ted Talks” with San Diego sports personality Ted Leitner, and “Down Deep” with submarine Capt. Charlie MacVean.