Bella, Larry, and Amanda Dalton
After Larry Dalton’s death in 2018, his wife Bella completed a project the two of them had talked about for years – a book that displays more than 100 highlights from Larry’s world-class collection of rare, antique timepieces. Bella describes the book as honoring Larry, his unique artist’s eye and superb collector’s taste.
An artist, Madison Avenue advertising executive, and athlete who had exceptional mechanical skills, Larry became fascinated with clocks after receiving one from his parents. He promptly took it apart and put it back together in working order. He was also obsessed with speed. He engineered his go-cart to go 80 mph and won many races. From there, he moved on to big motorcycles, hot cars, and flying with stunt pilots while working in the drafting department at Boeing during college. Eventually, however, he traveled around the world searching, buying, selling, rebuilding and repairing rare timepieces. His expertise as a collector and his unpretentious, friendly Midwestern style endeared him to other collectors, dealers, and many friends.
Bella Dalton compiled and published Rare Timepieces: Larry Dalton Collection in 2020. Th
e book contains splendid photos of the rarest and finest pieces in Larry’s extensive collection. Many of these timepieces have external moving parts as well as skillfully-crafted internal mechanisms. These are marvels of Industrial Age engineering, artistry, and ingenuity. Propellers whir, wheels turn, birds sing and flap their wings, beautiful boxes open and close. You can see some of the timepieces in action in a video talk given by Bella, which is available at https://vimeo.com/400951783.
In addition to 
being exceptionally beautiful artworks, some of the timepieces commemorate important events such as the Wright Brothers’ first flight. Larry’s favorite clock, it was created in France just six years after the Wright Brothers went airborne. Larry found it in pieces in a shop, knew what it was, bought it, and took it home to restore into masterpiece condition.
The Class of 1960 has a history of embracing spouses and friends. Bella attended reunions with Larry and became a great favorite of all who met her. She has graciously provided permission for this website to display selected photos from her book plus videos of timepieces in action.
A selection of Larry Dalton’s timepieces and several videos showing clocks in action may be seen on the Gallery page of this website under Collections.
You can order this beautiful book from Bella Dalton, 14 Bretton Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583 (belladalton@optonline.net).
Editor’s Note: The information for this story came from the book, the video, and from Bella, who has been a pleasure to work with. This story was originally published here in October 2020.
Bella is still living in Scarsdale and playing a lot of tennis. She recently married a fellow tennis enthusiast.
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