Antique Clocks

Clocks & Watches — By admin on June 8, 2010 at 5:56 am

Unlike other types of antiques, antique clocks are unique in that they are “working” pieces. Clocks have been appreciated and treasured from at least the 17th century to the present day. Sometimes described as “mechanical pictures”, clocks can be appreciated both for their visual appeal and for their technical mastery. They also serve a more practical purpose in telling you the time.

If you’re a novice collector thinking of investing in a clock, it’s probably best to buy one that’s in working order. Most clocks can be repaired, but restoring a “bargain” can be a laborious and expensive business, and unless the problem is very straightforward it’s often cheaper in the long run to buy a clock which has been properly overhauled and restored to working order by a skilled clockmaker.

Most clocks are relatively easy to date and identify because the vast majority were signed by their
maker on the dial and movement, and records of most makers have survived thanks to the tight control of the governing body, the Clockmakers Company, which was founded in 1631.

Value depends on the maker, movement, case and condition, but a clock’s visual appeal lies largely in its case, which usually reflects the furniture style of the period, but these are rarely signed and little is known about this aspect of the trade.

Despite their popularity, clocks are available at a wide range of prices. Plain carriage clocks are
available from about $1000, a simple bracket clock might cost $5000, and a late 19th century longcase from $6000.

BASICS
There are three key elements which you should assess before buying a clock;
• the clock’s movement/mechanism
• the dial/clock face
• the case.

MOVEMENT
Three Types: The escapement, verge escapement (balance-wheel escapement) and anchor escapements.

PENDULUM
Weight-driven and spring-driven clocks usually have a pendulum to control the clock’s speed, which swings in a regular arc. The pendulum is a brass or steel rod with a bob at the bottom. On a verge escapement, the bob is usually on a threaded rod. On an anchor escapement, the bob slides on the rod and can be locked in place tightening a nut. Adjusting the position of the bob on the rod alters the timekeeping of the clock.

DIALS
A dial has an important bearing on price. Clocks with replaced dials are much less desirable. There are four main types of dial: brass dials, painted metal dials, painted wooden dials and enameled metal dials. It is preferable to have original clock hands, but good replacements are acceptable. A replaced key is acceptable, as the original (appears pitted and aged) has usually been lost.

CASES
The case houses the dial and movement. Knowledge of materials and styles is useful in dating a clock and in assessing its value.In Britain and the United States, wooden cases were popular. Metal cases, or those combining materials are more likely to be Continental.

Clock Marriages
If a movement and dial are not original to the case or to each other, the clock is a “marriage”. If case, dial and movement fit together well, a marriage may be acceptable. Ill-fitting ones should be avoided. Marriages occur for several reasons:

When ebony went out of fashion, the movement and dial from an ebony case were sometimes housed in a walnut or marquetry case.
When mahogany came into fashion, many arched-dial clocks were taken from walnut cases and put in a mahogany case.
A dial and/or movement may have been changed to create a false impression of age, and thus boost the clock’s value. It is more likely for a movement and dial to be in the wrong case than for a dial and movement to be married. It is acceptable to replace a damaged original dial.

Fakes
Fakes are less common than marriages. Obvious signs include:

A fresh-looking case interior
Very thin veneers (indicates they are machine-cut)
Re-veneered cases are rare. If the figuring is not appropriate to the style of case or dial, then the veneers may have been changed.

“Upgrading”
In the late 19thC, some longcase movements were “upgraded”, in an attempt to bring them up to date. As well as the normal two trains, a third one may have been added (for the quarter-hours). Wheels and pinions may have been replaced; new wheels have square-edged collets. Upgraded

clocks should be avoided.

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History Of Antique Clocks

By the end of the 1800s the well-off generally had a clock in each room in the house and a pocket watch for each member of the family. But before the age of the railways, whose need to run to
a comprehensible timetable necessitated the idea of standard national time in Britain, all timepieces were set to local time (which varies by nearly 30 minutes between Kent and Cornwall), checked against a sundial, or read from the stars at night.

Often, in towns, clocks were wound and checked for their owners by the local clock maker or jeweller against a pocket watch set against a longcase regulator clock in his shop. While to the Victorians, punctuality was a necessity, the attitude to time had been quite the contrary when, in the mid-17th century, domestic clocks first began to keep respectable time. Until then most clocks and watches had only one hand and the dial was calibrated to divisions no smaller than quarter-hours.

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