Business focus: Artisans turn old police revolvers into timekeeping art

A Seattle company with its roots in Spokane has started a project to transform decommissioned police revolvers from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office into handmade watches crafted by artisans.

Peace Times 38 has existed for years but just began making the watches a month ago, said spokesman Kevin Thompson. They purchased ads in international magazines to generate attention.

“The watches took eight months to design,” he said. “We’ve only been on the market for about a month. They’ve just gone on sale. We’ve gotten a lot of interest.”

The mission statement on the Peace Times 38 gives the reason for the project. “Our goal was to transform something that can take a life into something that celebrates the time we have to share our lives with others,” it reads.

Thompson said the goal is to transform the old guns.

“A gun is an iconic symbol that can stand for both justice and crime,” he said. “They thought it could have more meaning behind it than just a watch.”

The artisans making the watches only use certain types of guns. “They’re not the new, modern ones, they’re old ones that have been decommissioned,” Thompson said.

Peace Times 38 includes three artisans: Andrew Polloc, from Mount Vernon, Washington; Ahmad Al Shamsi from Abu Dhabi; and Zaxxr, who comes from Cheney. Thompson is from Spokane and still owns a home here.

“We’re Spokane, Eastern Washington people,” he said. “We have roots there.”

The group has done a variety of projects over the years, including once stringing together bullet casings on the Monroe Street Bridge to represent victims of gun violence.

“They’ve done all sorts of things,” Thompson said. “These guys are artists and visionaries.”

The watches come in five models, the most expensive of which – the Model 1 Etihad – costs $100,000. The newest model that just went on sale this week, Model 74, is named in honor of Expo ’74. It’s also the cheapest, ringing in at $3,800. The next most affordable option is the Model 3, which is $8,838.

“It is a high-end watch,” Thompson said. “There are watches that go for even more expensive than that.”

The watches are not made until they are ordered.

“They’re absolutely made to order,” he said. “We have all the parts ready to go. If you put in an order, we would have it ready in three or four weeks.”

The watches come in elegant wooden cases and are not shipped to their new owners. “We hand deliver it,” Thompson said.

But it’s not just about making and selling watches. There is also a charitable component to Peace Times 38. The group donates 50% of the proceeds from each watch sold to charities local to the customer.

“For every watch we sell to an Eastern Washington customer, we will donate half of the money to Ronald McDonald House, the Police Athletic League and local food banks,” Thompson said. “We want to give back. We believe in these causes.”