In the days before digital timepieces, watch repair was a highly skilled job. Working with tiny gears and springs required good eyesight, steady hands and meticulous attention to detail.
Amazingly, at age 80, when he retired after 67 years in the jewelry business, Kankakee watchmaker Arthur Valade still possessed all those qualities. He began working at age 13, when he was hired in 1886 by A.H. Pike, owner of a jewelry store on Court Street in downtown Kankakee.
âWhen I started work, there were no electric lights, no street cars, no paved streets,â he told a Kankakee Daily Journal reporter interviewing him in 1946 for an article on his 60th anniversary in the jewelry business. âAbout all there was on Court Street in addition to stores was mud and board walks.â