Keeping Time

The showcase at John Brozek's shop in downtown St. Petersburg glitters with rare watches. On any given day, a collector may find a vintage Patek Philippe, a Breitling, Cartier or Tag Heuer. Or, he can choose Brozek's favorite, the Rolex.

Extraordinary wristwatches have long fascinated Brozek. Although many people now check the time on cell phones rather than wristwatches, Brozek's one-man company keeps on ticking as it services and sells luxury watches and clocks to customers around the globe.

The founder and president of QualityTyme Rare & Fine Timepieces, Brozek moved his company to the Northern Trust Bank Building in St. Petersburg in December 2011, after operating online more than a dozen years. The move defies the trend of stores abandoning brick-and-mortar locations — and the overhead that goes with them — to go online.