Sorry Harsh... On 17 August 2010 19:55, Vanya Orr <orrvanya@gmail.com> wrote: > Here is a little something about P.Orr and sons in Mount Road... I will > root around & see if I can find anything about Pophams, David.. meanwhile > this is a small flavour of things as they were... warm greetings, Vanya Orr > > it was a tradition at P.Orr's that there would always have to be a Director > on the premises during working hours right round the year! This ensured that > Madras Society shopping here was always served by someone almost on that > society - and not by a salesman, no matter the latter's immaculate white > suit, just the right tie, shoes that shone and impeccable manners. From > owner-directors' hands, P.Orr's passed into the Amalgamations Group and > then, in 1967, Anantharamakrishnan sold the business to his friend Karumuthu > Thiaigaraja Chettiar, in whose family the business remains, but with the > property strongly disputed even after recent court rulings. > > Chisholm's 60 feet by 30 showroom that was the chief attraction of P.Orr's > building in its heyday was a veritable Victorian wonderland of ornate > chandeliers, floors with shining tiles, richly embellished walls that were > an "art gallery" of the coats of arms and heraldry of British and Indian > royalty and nobility, and, above all, scores of ornamental showcases, with > their glass gleaming and their rosewood and teak polished almost every day. > And in the showcases, themselves works of art, were the riches of P.Orr's, > ranging from watches to silverware, from precious stones to jewellery. > > There also used to be renowned Diamond Table, the display of rubies and > jade that the Rangoon branch regularly supplied, and case after case of > watches, chronometers and silverware. Today, no longer can you see here the > Golconda or the 68-carat Guntakkal Diamond, nor displays of silver and gold > table service or trophies. > > Today, it's back to roots - and that's watches. Behind it all there also > survives what used to be a fascinating horolgical workshop, a maze on > different levels, with hundreds of stools and workbenches where hundreds of > employees pored over the intricacies of the innards of watches and clocks, > while at other levels jewellery was created, gold and silver engraved. > > There was a time when P.Orr's even went beyond its traditional business, in > an unconscious reflection of Peter Orr's engineering roots which, from time > to time, manifested themselves in some new creation of his - like his > mechanical process to work the city's punkahs by steam! During that short > excursion, P.Orr's assembled bicycles, served as agents for Oldsmobile, > Cadillac and Wolseley cars, sold and serviced sophisticated surveying > equipment and even had an arms and ammunition section, where arms repair was > a specialty. Over the years, and particularly after Independence, department > after department was closed down and it is with watches the firm is > primarily associated once more." > > > > > -- Vanya Orr, Project Director Earth Trust Ketty Post Nilgiris, Tamilnadu, India mob.: +919787749943 office: +914232517036 www.earthtrustnilgiris.org