National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is an American non-profit organization with about 14,000 members.
The NAWCC was founded in 1943 by members of the Horological Society of New York and the Philadelphia Watchmakers' Guild who wished to create a national organization. Many of the members participate in the over 160 "Chapters" which can be based on a locality or a special interest; i.e., the local chapter for New York is Chapter 2 and the Tower Clock Chapter is Chapter 134. The vast majority of chapters are US location based, a number are also in Canada, Australia and Japan. Special interest chapters range from "British Horology" to "Horological Science".
Annually the Ward Francillion Time Symposium is held in late October, where eminent speakers present their research on a focused topic.
A bi-monthly Watch & Clock Bulletin and its Mart and Highlights supplement (containing both association news and scholarly articles on horology) are published, and local, regional and national meetings are held.
The National Watch and Clock Museum was founded in 1977 by the NAWCC and now has a major horological collection and operates one of the world's pre-eminent horological libraries. Museum, library (National Watch and Clock Library) and headquarters are located in Columbia, PA. The NAWCC also runs the NAWCC School of Horology, where professional watch and clock repairers are trained.
The NAWCC also has a Bulletin board system with over 1.4 million annual visitors, where non-members of the association may ask questions on watches and clocks to experts.
Its main sister organisations in other countries pursuing similar goals are:
- Antiquarian Horological Society - AHS (United Kingdom)
- Association Française des Amateurs d'Horlogerie Ancienne - AFAHA (France)
- Chronometrophilia (Switzerland)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie - DGC (Germany)
- HORA Associazione Italiana Cultori di Orologeria Antica (Italy)