Fake 84

A clock in Howard's, a café at the top of the once grand arcade in Bognor Regis town centre, connecting High Street to Belmont Street. Presumably 'Belmont' as in 'Merchant of Venice', as Google turns up no other celebrity Belmonts, with the best it can do being the Belmond chain of luxury hotels, a lot of them in Italy and (oddly) Peru, with one of them in Venice.

An obviously fake clock with an old-style face including the words 'Glenmont Clock Co. Est 1908'. Investigations with Google suggest that there may never have been any such company and the the name is a trade mark used by a company manufacturing such stuff, perhaps for sale by TK Maxx, perhaps for distribution by the fancy goods warehouse people at reference 1.

There may be connections with the lawyers Martinez Group of Brooklyn and/or with the Patton people at reference 2.

That apart, no doubt retail gurus would be able to explain why goods such as these sell. Is there a cognitive chain which goes something like name equals old equals heritage/quality equals good/nice/cute equals buy? A chain which overrides or otherwise blocks the fact that the object is neither old nor heritage. Nor even repro. In short, a low grade fake. Or are they supposed to be amusing? An amusing assembly of bits and bobs from around the world? Or which at least appear to come from around the world? A piece of conceptual art for the common man?

PS: it is possible, likely even, that the clock does not actually hang from the rope included in assembly, although I did not like to stand on a chair to check. And it actually hangs from a couple of slot screws behind, with the rope being just a bit of décor.

Reference 1: http://www.coachhouse.com/.

Reference 2: https://pattonpictures.com/. 'Patton Wall Decor is an international home décor merchant serving retail chains. We have become a leading supplier in affordable wall décor including framed art, mirror, metal, canvas, photo collages, clocks, alternative & functional décor, point of purchase displays, and other decorative accessories. Patton has developed a first-class reputation in the marketplace by exceeding its customers’ expectations with the dependable delivery of excellent products'.