Emotions ran high on The Repair Shop as BBC favourites Steve Fletcher and Dominic Chinea welcomed guest Robin into their renowned workshop. Robin arrived carrying an impressive globe, which he revealed was a 'world clock', lovingly crafted by his great-grandfather.
He explained: "It's based on a grandfather clock mechanism. The idea is that the clock makes the globe rotate once every 24 hours. Then, using the numbers on the ring around the equator, you can see what the time is anywhere in the world."
The BBC duo were left utterly speechless, both describing it as 'amazing', before Robin admitted that he had never once seen it functioning during his lifetime.
Intrigued, master horologist Steve enquired whether his great-grandfather had been a clockmaker by trade, to which Robin revealed he had in fact been a mechanical engineer, who crafted the remarkable piece during his retirement in the 1930s as a hobby.
He went on to say: "There's a little newspaper cutting in here, according to the newspaper it's supposed to chime every half hour. It took him five years to perfect."
In a touching moment, Robin revealed that his great-grandfather passed away when he was just one year old, yet he holds fond memories of the piece sitting proudly in his grandad's dining room.
When pressed on what he hoped the experts could achieve, Robin made clear his wish to see the extraordinary timepiece restored to full working order — a dream his late father had long cherished but sadly never managed to fulfil.
He added: "If he'd have seen it working, I think it would have really been special to him if I could get it working now, in his memory, but also, grandfather and great-grandfather before that. Just to keep the family legacy going, as it were."
In the end, after the item was worked on by both Steve and Jonathan Wright, it was time for Robin to return to see the final restoration.
As the globe was unveiled — which the experts had successfully brought back to life — Robin was left speechless. He remarked: "Wow! Well, it looks gorgeous, it really does look gorgeous. I'm... I am stunned, I really am stunned. Thank you. That's a lovely sound, isn't it?"
As Steve activated the clock strike, Robin laughed while visibly struggling to contain his emotions. He said: "Wow, that is so sweet. Sorry. I'd have loved my dad to have seen it and heard it. He'd have been thrilled. It's really, it is emotional."
"Extremely emotional, but it's magical, fabulous. We shall treasure it until it's time to hand it on to the next generation."
Steve concluded: "It's been a real great challenge, so thank you very much for bringing it in."
The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
