Dianne Goes Shopping, and You Can Too

The title is a bit ironic, here, since I am not an enthusiastic shopper.  But I have my places, and one is "the watch guy," as we call him, in the fancy shopping district that spreads out from the foot of the Spanish Steps to via del Corso.  I've splurged here on 2 colored leather watchbands - red 3 years ago, blue this year.  And Antonio Senzacqua graciously puts them on my 20 year-old, only cost $20 then, Timex, and charges me at most Euro 18.  Definitely a better deal than the $5 band I bought at Target that lasted 3 weeks. 

Senzacqua has an enormous selection of bands (and patiently lets me look through them) and everything else.  His tiny shop is crammed full of clocks and watches, including antique ones dating back to the 1600s.  He specializes in antique and modern watch and clock repair as well.  The store has been on the same street since the 1920s. 

When we last stopped by and chatted him up a bit, he proudly gave us a copy of a news article about his shop and his love of his trade.  And, he posed for the photo above.

There's a lot of hue and cry in Rome these days about the loss of artisan shops, especially in the more touristy areas like the Spanish Steps.  So it's wonderful (to us) to see an artisan still hard at work and maintaining his piece of land here.

Antonio Senzacqua - watch repairer trained in both antique and modern clockworks, via della Vite 14/a; tel. 06.6789437.  Don't expect him to be open mid-day like typical tourist shops; he's a real Roman.

Dianne