Wooden Wall Clocks

Although ever so slightly out off fashion; the antique wooden wall clock will always have its place amongst the traditionalists. They were made in a variety of shapes and sizes and prices to suit all pockets, as with anything you got what you paid for, but the quality of these clocks was very high taking into account the technology of the day.

In the modern world clocks have become synonymous with all things accurate; atomic clocks keep time to within very small fractions of a second, the NIST-F1 Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock has an uncertainty of less than 2 x 10-15, in other words it will not gain or lose one second in 20,000,000 years.

It must be a reflection on our hectic modern lifestyles that sometimes we feel the need to rely so heavily on this kind of pin-point accuracy, we feel that our timepieces must respond and anything less simply won’t do.

What a difference the traditional wooden wall clock; by no means inaccurate, but of course not able to compete with today’s battery powered, radio controlled miracles, not for timekeeping anyway.

One thing these older clocks do possess is character, the look and feel of the wood, the sound when it chimes, and the incredible engineering skills that went into the manufacture of the movement all add too its charm, now that’s something a modern clock doesn’t have.

One of the most prolific wooden wall clock makers of the 19th century was Seth Thomas; he began making wooden gear clocks in 1813. By the mid 19th century almost all clocks were manufactured with a brass movement.

Seth Thomas’s clocks along with others from Ansonia, Elias Ingraham and Simon Willard are becoming very collectable nowadays; the banjo-shaped Willard clock is especially sought after at the moment.

When buying at an antique clock always make sure that it has its original finish and that the dial is in good condition. Paper dials are prone to discolouration and marking, porcelain dials should be inspected for chipping or hairline cracks.

Always check the clocks mechanism, swing the pendulum gently, if the clock stops after approx five minutes it will need a service which is not a major problem. If on the other hand you swing the pendulum and you don’t hear a ticking sound the spring is probably broken. These are very strong springs and when they break they invariably damage other more delicate parts of the mechanism and this result in a costly re-build.

If an antique timepiece is not your thing but you still like the look of a wooden clock why not consider a modern wooden wall clock? Most modern clockmakers such as Seiko and Acctim, now make a modern alternative, these of course will be battery powered but will have the traditional look and feel of a wooden clock, the best of both   worlds perhaps.