Victor Kochaver
Victor
Kochaver was born and raised in the Arrowhead Lakes Region
of Northeastern Minnesota. In 1950 he moved to Minneapolis,
where he ran a successful manufacturing business, making
precision metal stampings for companies such as 3M Company,
IBM, Honeywell, etc. His interest in clocks began in 1969,
when a friend, gave him and his family an antique clock
as a Christmas gift. Victor has been collecting clocks ever
since. His interests center mainly on Austrian, French and
English clocks. Although his primary areas of concentration
are Vienna Regulators and Carriage Clocks from these three
countries, his collection also includes late 18th century
and early 19th century French clocks, and 18th and 19th
century English bracket and mantle clocks. Currently, Victor
divides his time between Minnesota and San Diego.
Bob
Tjaden
Bob
Tjaden was raised in Northeast Wisconsin. He moved to Minneapolis
to attend Augsburg College where he graduated with a B.A.
in Communications/Theatre Arts/Education. He taught communications
for 17 years.
From
childhood, Bob was interested in furniture restoration and
cabinet making. To pursue a career in these areas, he attended
the Wood Finishing Program at Dakota County Technical College
and then the Furniture Conservation Training Program at
the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. For his degree
he interned at Harpers Ferry's National Parks Conservation
Center. He completed condition surveys, treatment proposals,
site visits, collection surveys and did treatment of many
historically significant pieces including clocks, furniture
and objects.
His site visits took him to many areas from the East Coast,
to Arizona to Alaska.While attending the Smithsonian Master's
program, Bob was introduced to Victor and they have been
working together for the past eight years. When the annual
seminar of the NAWCC was held in Minneapolis on the topic
of Vienna Regulators, he was a speak on topics related to
Clock Case Conservation.
Bob's work reflects the practices and ethical standards
set forth by the AIC (American Institute for Conservation).
Using accepted conservation materials, Bob has worked on
hundreds of clocks from around the world. His passion for
research, history, wood, furniture, and clocks have been
combined in his business, Clock Case Conservation located
in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
