Please provide us with the following information when submitting an inquiry, and someone from the Trefler’s team will help you determine the next steps.

Please describe your item(s) in as much detail as possible. Information such as dimensions, what materials the item is made of (i.e. wood, plaster, porcelain), and your item’s current condition are all very helpful for our experts to make an accurate estimate.

We suggest providing at least three .jpg images per item. These should include; one image of the entire object, and detailed views of the area(s) of damage and/or pieces. 

If you are submitting an inquiry for painting restoration, please provide an additional photograph of the back of the canvas.

Our team will review all inquiries and assess the best course of action to suit your needs. In order to expedite your inquiry, please make sure to include your telephone number

We look forward to hearing from you.

 


PROJECTS

The Fabrication of a Case for Pocket Watches

World’s Fair Pocket Watches Case

Project Type

Custom Work

Department

Art Display Cases

HISTORY OF THE PIECES / About the project

 Why do people collect, and what do they collect? There is a joy in the hunt, and everyone finds joy in his or her or their own way. “To each his own” is a phrase that is found in many different languages: “À chacun son goût” ….”A ciascuno il suo”.

This is a beautiful collection of portable objects that a particular collector found the time, the place, and the pleasure to display in his home, and he also found a fabricator/designer for the case, here, at Trefler’s. The collection has a history, a focus, and a centralizing concept: World’s Fair pocket watches. The World’s Fair was a celebration, and, here, our client celebrates the joy of collecting.

About the restoration

The watches were cleaned and restored by an independent clock and watch store elsewhere, first, before they came to us. Here, the cabinet was designed and fabricated to allow the viewing of the watches on both sides. The design allows for easy rearrangement of watches. The display case can be hung or put on a mantle or table top. It was constructed of mahogany and walnut; the case was finished with Gilboys hard oil wax. There is lighting in the interior operated by a handheld remote control. Antique lamp wire wrapped with fabric was used to hang the watches; museum glass that is low reflective and is UV light filtering is in place to protect the paper faces on the watches. There is a drawer at the bottom of the case to hold the tags, the boxes for the watches, and extra watches.

Restoration projects

  • Time Pieces Find a Home

    Time Pieces Find a Home

    Do you collect something? And why? Does there have to be a reason?
    These pocket watches from the World’s Fair are displayed here, carefully presenting a view of the interest of preservation and collecting.

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  • Gaming at Trefler’s

    Gaming at Trefler’s

    These pieces came to our studio for restoration, repair, conservation, and fabrication. Many details went into the process of bringing it back to its final version, ready for use by the family of our client. There is an interesting background story to both the game and the process of its work, here.

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  • An antique Rocking Horse is restored

    Our client writes “This rocking horse was bought by my grandparents for my father and his two brothers in the early 1900s. They lived in Cleveland, Ohio, but the horse was made by the Whitney Reed Company in Massachusetts. My father inherited the horse from his parents, and it was then passed down to me. When I brought it into Trefler’s, the brace, saddle, mane, and paint all needed work after many years of use by young children. I’m so glad that it’s been brought back to its original condition.”

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  • Conservation, with the sea in mind

    This was painted in approximately 1900, by our client’s husband’s Swedish great grandfather. He was a ship captain, and was lost at sea in 1910.
    The painting had a dark layer of discolored varnish and soot obscuring the surface. There were some losses in the paint layer and scratches.
    The restoration process included a cleaning with a combination of solvent solutions. An isolating varnish of Paraloid B-67 with 2% Tinuvin 292 hindered-amine light stabilizer was brushed over the surface. Losses were filled with Flügger and inpainted with pigment ground in Laropal A81 aldehyde resin. A final coat of Paraloid B-67 with Tinuvin was applied.

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  • A Collection of Civil War badges is displayed

    This client’s Great-Great-Grandfather fought in the Civil War for the Indiana 44th Infantry regiment. After the war, he attended many of the GAR reunions, acquiring a badge at each one. After his death, his daughters (both of whom I knew as a child – one as an adult) created the display of badges that you have prepared the shadow box to house. One of his daughters, the Great-Great-Aunt I knew even as an adult, was an invalid and never married. Until her death in the late 1970s she received a Civil War pension as a dependent of a veteran – the princely sum of $11 a month!

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  • The New Bedford Whaling museum repairs its lamp

    The New Bedford Whaling Museum contacted us with a very special project. Their Pairpoint Mushroom electric lamp, made in the time somewhere between 1907-1929, was in pieces.

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  • An antique carousel horse is restored

    This antique carousel horse was brought to Trefler’s as part of a larger fire claim which included an incredible private collection of fine and decorative artworks. The capabilities of our full-service studio, coupled with the trained hands of our skilled restorers, allowed our team to address damage to the wide array of objects, antiques and artworks that were affected by this unanticipated and unfortunate event.

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  • Framing a Soviet-era shawl woven with family history

    This beautiful Russian shawl was brought into Trefler’s framing department with a story that spans three generations of women.

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  • A Sentimental Armoire Gets An Update

    This piece was incredibly sentimental to its owner, however its original finish was heavy and no longer suited its contemporary surroundings. With the ambition to give this armoire a new aesthetic, Trefler’s furniture department worked extensively with the client to create a custom finish that would re-imagine the piece of furniture by simply refinishing it.

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  • A Family’s Dollhouse is Restored For Future Generations

    This dollhouse was originally played with by Boston architect John Hubbard Sturgis, who would later come to design the Codman House in Lincoln, MA, and the personal residence of Isabella Stewart Gardner.

    Read On