CAIRO - The time it takes to turn from the traffic chaos on the July 26th Street (formerly Fouad) in central Cairo and enter that shop may take a few moments, but it effectively spans more than a hundred years. Hinhayat, a shop for selling and repairing all kind of watches, dates back to 1907. It is one of the oldest horologist's shops in Egypt, as evidenced in its design and decor. Some Qur'anic verses hang on the wall and there is also large black-and-white photo hanging in the right hand side of the shop of Mr Salomon Hinhayat. "We (my brothers and I) inherited this shop from my grandfather Ahmed who had bought it from Salomon Hinhayat, a Jewish resident here at that time. This shop helped us in paying for our education," said Walid Sayed, a pilot. "Repairing watches runs in our blood," Walid, who has a BSc in space science from the US, told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. Some people wonder how a well-educated man is doing this job, Walid confides. "This kind of work needs a well-educated person who knows different languages in order to read the latest horological books and catalogues," stated Walid. He is in his thirties but can recall those old days in his father's and grandfather's eras, when there was a professional repairer for watches, including pocket matches, one for clocks and one specialised in alarms, one for alarm timepieces and there were factories for making watches and clocks. The ancient Egyptians took timekeeping to a new level with the invention of the obelisk. This is a tall slim four-sided structure with a pyramidal top that told the time by throwing a shadow that moved in a semi-circular rotation, allowing the Egyptians to tell the time from it by segmenting a horizontal disc. They also discovered the longest and shortest days of the year, that is when the shadow was at its shortest (summer solstice) or longest (winter solstice) measured at midday. As time passed and knowledge was gained the Egyptians created smaller sundials. However, it was soon learned that telling the time accurately with a small device was more difficult, due to the fact that even though the shadow cast was much sharper, it was much more difficult to accurately segment the disk. The customers of the Hinhayat shop have always included many illustrious and noble Egyptian figures, such as nationalist Saad Zaghloul (1859 – 1927). "From time to time, the grandsons of Hinhayat come to visit the shop. They are happy that I keep their grandfather's photo and the decor as it was," he smilingly said. Walid, however, admitted that because of the impact of modern technology, many Egyptians, especially young ones, depend on knowing the time via their mobile phones. "Some older people prefer to use watches. Well-to-do people buy expensive watches costing thousands of Egyptian pounds. When there is a problem with it, they come to us to repair it." Walid believes that there is another reason why wearing watches has decreased. "If they appreciated time's value, all Egyptians would wear watches to save their time!" In his shop, there are a lot of old watches that are not in use, but have a precious value for him, so he puts them in a large glass showcase. "Believe me, this kind of work is profitable and gives a lot of money, but for those who love doing so," he said. He then stood up next to a large Nomolas (Salomon Hinhayat's trademark) wall-clock taller than him and said: "Imagine! This wall-clock was made 104 years ago. All its material and mechanism are 100 per cent Egyptian," Walid said.
