An early brass clock of elegant design. Shown with porcelain dial by Gervais of Paris. 18th century. A good quality model. ‘8-day’ duration. 2 train movement with one piece porcelain dial. To sum up a nice early cartel clock.
Featured here a good 2 train walnut and ebonized German wall regulator. ‘8-day’ duration. Also with 2 piece porcelain dial. In addition striking hours/half hours on a gong.
A fine mahogany French mantel clock. Featuring porcelain numerals and 8 day movement. Also with brass adornments to the case.
If so you are one of millions of us rushing around at the last minute with no clue of what to get?
We usually spend hundreds of pounds on something that will be forgotten within a few days. How about some suggestions that will be a memorable present for many years to come ?
Everyone has a budget at Christmas. I will be looking a various options from a few hundred pounds to a few thousands pounds for those with bigger pockets. Maybe for ones like me that tend to save up and buy something really special once a year as a special treat.
Lovely Art Nouveau Balloon clocks can be a wonderful Christmas gift. Fully restored examples in top condition and of the best quality can be found at under 500£. These lovely little clocks will give years of superb service. Always reminding the person of the day they receive this lovely gift.
Antique pre c1900 Fusee wall clocks that have been overhauled and are in showroom condition are fantastic gifts. The earlier type can go from around £1,000 to £1,600. If you want to stretch the budget you can go for a smaller dial example. Convex dials or even rarer large face dials with fusee movement which all are more expensive.
For under or around £3,000 you can get a large selection of early or mid 19th century fusee timepiece bracket or skeleton clocks.
These superb fusee bracket clocks would be a lovely addition to any home. Woods from mahogany to walnut to ebonized fruitwood can be found on these examples. Most movements are of 8 day fusee type.
Antique grandfather clocks form an amazing addition to any home. They truly are the centre piece. Owning a lovely restored ticking antique grandfather clock is like having someone nice coming to stay with you.
I hope some of these pictures give you the inspiration this Christmas for that really special gift. If not for Christmas then for that special anniversary. Have a part of our nations history ticking away in your home very soon, you won’t regret it.
Daniel Clements
We all owe a huge debt to the brave souls that lost their lives in WWI and WWII. They protected us in this country and providing the freedom we now have today. With 100 years since the start of World War I, I would like to write a short blog as my form of dedication and memory to them.
In an effort to help us win World War One clock factories in the UK changed production from things like clocks to military hardware. Smiths and Sons based in Cricklewood, were one such company, they were established in 1851 had a very technical workforce. As well as clocks that were needed for the war effort, they helped with things like fuse production. This company also produced the first odometer and speedometer. We are all in this together was not just a saying but in real action during the war years. Everyone chipped in with helping with the war effort, and confronting the foe that stood before us.
We have just had the honour of restoring for sale a superb antique grandfather clock by John King of London. It is not often you get any real history or insight into what was going on through periods of the clocks life. With this clock we get an insight into what war life was like in WWI in our antique clock repair department.
Engraved on the movement are the following things that really sends a shiver to the spine.
Cleaned & Repaired By W.U.Holmes September 1914
‘At war with Germany & Austria and still smiling ‘
Later Engraved in Nov/December 1917
‘War still on. But no smiles now.’ W.U.Holmes
You really get the impact on life, through this small engraving. The effect of the war years by a horologist at the time. When I am ever miserable or think I wish I had this or that, I think back to conditions and hardships back during wartime. I realize just how lucky most of us are today.
My thoughts go out to all those who gave up their lives so we have our freedom that we live with today. We owe a great debt to women during the World War’s who manned most of the factories at home whilst their husbands were fighting on the front line. They made ammunitions and things vital to the war effort.
https://www.pendulumofmayfair.co.uk
Security is an important aspect of any home. You do not need antiques to be a target for the thief. Clearly these people are normally after your small valuable items, like cash, jewellery, gold and silver, even video recoders. etc. All these items are easily sold on or with your gold items, melted down and sold for scrap.
When someone enters your home without permission, we feel violated, and it is something you will never forget. It is a good idea for your home to be your castle and make it secure. This may not be necessarily just for the sake of your valuables but for the protection of yourselves and your family.
My first advice is for you to contact three bodies. 1) Your local Crime Protection Officer , he or she will help you in many ways.
1)They will give you some good advice to improve on your security.
2) Contact your local Fire Prevention Officer. They will come out and make sure after you have secured your home. You have proper escape routes should the worst happen. Protecting your home so that no-one enters is one thing. Please make sure in case of fire, you can get out.
3) Your local Neighborhood Watch scheme is also a good thing, they will keep you updated on what is happening around your area.
I believe it is important to install high quality window and door locks. Do not just leave the keys in these so the thief can unlock from the inside after gaining entry. They can then make a quick exit. One really cheap way of vastly increasing your home security is to purchase some bolts for all your internal doors. These are quick to fit, can be easily unlocked in case of fire. No issue with finding the key, and the intruder cannot break an upstairs or downstairs window and reach you. He will be confined to the room he gained entry to.
It is important to photograph all your valuable or sentimental belongings. Record any specific marks or features and take a note of the height. You could mark or microchip belongings as well. Photographs and having an up to date valuation if you have the items insured will greatly enhance the chance of having you items returned. If not at least you will be in a good position with the insurance company. It is important to have this information and pictures not in your home. It should be kept in a safe deposit box, bank or at a solicitors.
All grandfather clocks we advise screwing to the wall, any measures like this will also slow the thief down. Robbers are interested in getting in and out in a short as time as possible. Items like jewellery and gold is most vunerable not large antiques. A thief will normally scan your home for weaknesses, make sure you do not have any. He will then go elsewhere if he sees issues.
Having a top quality alarm and for this to be monitored is important. Have the police on stand-by with panic alarms is also good for peace of mind.
We are resident at our premises 24/7 365 days a year and have various other important security features. If you do leave your home unattended, lock and shut all internal doors. Set your alarm, set lights to come on with time clocks at random during the night. Tell tell your neighbors you are going away. As with anything in life if you notice something suspicious note it down.
Conclusion
I am no expert in security but I hope there are some features listed above that you think are useful and may implement. Please do contact the specialist bodies though. It is amazing with all this help and advice out there, many people take security for granted, with the old adage, it won’t happen to me.
Daniel Clements
https://www.pendulumofmayfair.co.uk
The term ‘Vienna Regulator’ wall clock is commonly used to describe a narrow weight driven wall clock. All these clocks seem bundled together in one big group. This is wrong in my opinion. There should be a clear differentiation between a true ‘Vienna Regulator’ clock and the later ‘Vienna Style Regulator’ wall clock or properly described as a ‘German Regulator’ wall clock.
Vienna regulator wall clocks are very special and an original example can be very expensive. These clocks were manufactured throughout the 19th century, but most were made from about C1800 to C1850. These clocks were hand made and of very fine quality. These clocks are also very simple and very elegant. As the value of clocks like this are high many of these type of clocks coming onto the market in recent years are copies. Only buy an early Vienna wall clock from a specialist antique clock dealer. They should give you a money back guarantee that it is genuine and fully restored.
German wall regulators can still be nice clocks. I particularly like the first 10 or 20 years they were made from about C 1860. After C 1880 these clocks become very ornate and the quality tends to decrease. These clocks were made in factories specifically set up to produce them. With the typical German efficiency, lots of these clocks were produced. The value is alot lower than the earlier Austrian handmade examples.
I often get asked how do you tell if I have got a German wall regulator or an earlier Austrian example. The easiest way you can tell the difference is that German weight driven wall clocks often have an imitation second hand to the dial. Austrian wall clocks did not normally use this feature, unless the clock could actually beat seconds. A seconds pendulum means the pendulum will need to be about 1 meter long.
If you timed the period of 1 rotation on a German wall clock of the so called seconds hand, it will take about 40 seconds. It was in effect just a gimmick, put on the dial just for looks. The Austrians were purists and did not do this. An example of a true Austrian Vienna wall clock will a proper seconds hand is pictured above. You will notice the clock is very long. You will also see two examples below.A German wall regulator and an Austrian vienna regulator. See if you can see which one is which from my reasoning above.
Daniel Clements
