The Old Clock Shop

12/04/2026

Novelty clocks rule.

12/04/2026

12/04/2026

Novelty clocks are very interesting and entertaining in the clock world. These are a few interesting pieces :- swinging cherub. Swinging Diana. Cast iron blinking eye figures. Musical disc playing clock. Rack clocks. Inclined plane clock. Monk’s bellringer clock. World globe and spaceship clock. Kaiser world clock. Working blacksmith clock. Train clock with turning wheels. There is no end of the variation to be found !!

27/12/2025

Two horn Black Forest Trumpeter Clock by Gordian Heitich and Son. Has a has a clever little patent kicker which increases the tune from two to three notes.

27/12/2025

Large five horn Black Forest Trumpeter clock by Emilian Wehrle . Was missing all of top pediment when purchased which took a lot af patient carving to restore. You won’t see many of these!

24/12/2025

Movement of restored Christmas tree stand in operation before re-fitting

24/12/2025

Happy Christmas everyone!!
As a seasonal post here is a Victorian musical revolving Christmas tree stand. Was in a dreadful state before I restored it. You would drill the bottom of a small tree and mount it on the central turning spike then decorate the tree. In operation it will slowly for about twenty minutes playing music before re-winding .

24/12/2025

A diorama of a continental town with music and moving figures. Has a music box inside along with a separate clockwork movement which operates the moving parts through a Heath Robinish system of pulleys, lines and levers. There is a working clock in the clock tower which currently has s quartz replacement movement which I will convert back to the original clockwork in the future.

24/11/2025

Another Wagon Spring clock by Birge and Fuller, u.S.A. This one of the four candle design. Made about 1845 . Highly collectable and very hrd to come by in the UK.

16/10/2023

Never seen the likes of this one before. A mystery French swinging pendulum clock by S. Marti, Paris stamped 1889. I have seen similar clocks but all have had some kind of rod fixed into the back of the case to engage with the crutch keeping it vertical enabling the clock to swing and tick. This has no conection and is completely free. How is the crutch kept vertical? There is a a small counterweight pendulum with barrel shaped bob which is a magnet inside the clock .Hidden within the wooden base is another magnet with opposing poles. The magnetic field between the two hold the pendulum and crutch vertical so the whole clock can swing against it ! I fully restored the movement but could not get it to run. After all kinds of experimentation I decided to file the knife edge suspension to a razor sharp finish and it now runs like a train. You learn something new every day in this game !

30/09/2022

Rare 30 day American Wagon Spring clock by Atkins c1850 in a nice rosewood case.
Patented by Joseph Ives in the 1820s, the ones we see in the UK date from the 1840s by Birge and Fuller and Atkins.
The clock is powered by the strong wagon spring at the bottom and by a system of levers and pulleys turning a 1” bend of the spring to a 24” pull on the lines! This clock also has another Ives innovation in using rolling pinions which reduce friction and increase efficiency.
Wagon spring clocks were made because up to the 1850s American clockmakers could not make coiled steel mainsprings and had to rely on expensive imports from Europe. Most pre 1850 clocks were large to accommodate internal weights in chutes for power. The use of springs enables smaller, more concise , clocks to be manufactured. Once the Americans produced their own mainsprings Wagon Spring clock production ceased.