Time and Again
A century ago the glittering heart of the city’s diamond, jewelry and watchmaker district beat right here. “Within these stores,” wrote the Daily Graphic in 1876,” are diamonds as bright as the eyes of the ancient Dutch beauties.” A proud lone survivor operates here: William Barthman, Jeweler to the Financial District since 1884, the oldest such establishment in one location in the city. Barthman is known to busy Wall Street moguls as the “Downtown Tiffany.” Legendary patrons have included the Morgan’s and the Vanderbilt’s and such celebrities as British actress Lily Langry and dapper New York Mayor “Gentleman” Jimmy Walker.At the Feet of History
Embedded in the pavement in the corner of Maiden Land and Broadway what was in front of the original Barthman’s door is one of New York’s most unusual timepieces. In an age of ubiquitous tall, standing sidewalk clocks, William Barthman installed his novel clock directly in the sidewalk itself in 1899, considering it a snappy piece of advertising.Built by a Barthman employee, two years of experimental work went into the construction of the clock at a cost of $700, a magnificent sum in those days. The clock was refitted and its face was changed in 1966. In 1983, after purchasing the store from the Barthman Family, one of the first things the new owner, Jerry Natkin did, in respect of the Barthman legacy was restore and refurbish the clock with the help of Cartier. The clock had Cartier’s name on it as well as Barthman’s for several years.