Tributes have been paid to a much-loved former watchmaker who once vied with Sean Connery in a Mr Universe competition.
John Bennetts, who ran a watchmaking, jewellery and clockmaking business on Commercial Street, Newport for many years, passed away on July 22, 2021 after a short illness.
His funeral took place last week and he was described by his family as a “larger than life person” who was “known by everybody” in the city.
Originally from Malpas, John undertook an apprenticeship in a workshop in Cardiff arcade when he was a teenager, cycling to and from his home every day.
He further developed his skills in Switzerland before working for other jewellers, later opening up his own business, John E Bennetts, in Newport around 50 years ago.
A photo of John on his penny farthing
(Image: Robert Bennetts)
“He was extremely popular with customers,” John’s brother Robert said. “If I went out to town to have a chat chat to him, you’d never finish the conversation. Every customer that came in, he’d have a joke for every one of them. A lot of people said he missed his vocation and that he should’ve been a comedian on the stage.
Robert, eight years John’s junior, said his older brother was “always jovial” and that “nothing ever got him down.”
An avid squash player up until he was 78, John was a noted music fan well known for his love of Frank Sinatra, and in his younger days was a passionate cyclist and bodybuilder.
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“He’d go back and forth from Cardiff during his apprentice days, and sometimes when he’d come back he’d go back out again for what he called a ‘spin’. His spin would be up to the Brecon Beacons and back,” Robert remembered.
“He could also imitate birdsong, and if a bird was calling he’d call to it and it’d call back. He was a man of many talents.”
John continued to run a repair booth in Newport until he fell ill earlier this year. Perhaps most notably, in his late twenties, he entered the Mr Universe competition in London where he went up against a then little-known, pre-James Bond era Sean Connery.
“I think Arnold Schwarzenegger was judging. He wouldn’t have had a chance with it but he certainly entered it!
“One thing John would say was ‘is there anything you need?’, and I’d say no. Then I’d ask him the same thing.
“When I went to see him a couple of days before he died, as I was leaving I said ‘I’m going now John’ and he whispered back ‘is there anything you need?’ So I knew he knew I was there for him, which was a bit of comfort.”
Robert added that John was “known by everyone” in Newport, especially for his sharp sense of style.
“The way he dressed in his suits, especially in his younger days, he looked like he’d walked right out of the Rat Pack. He always looked immaculate.
“He was a larger than life person, they broke the mould with him. You’ll never see his like again, and there’s many in Newport who would endorse that.”
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