Pendulum Clocks New Haven Sessions Gilbert Owari Japanese Clock German Clock Cuckoo Clocks Torsional Pendulum Timepieces Balance Wheel Timepieces Westclox Big Ben with Seconds Hand? Ingraham New Haven Waterbury Gilbert General Electric Electric Timepieces General Electric Clock Movements Links
New Haven Clock Co. 8-day kitchen clock, circa 1900 "Camden" model. Clock, movement, and stamp. Note the countwheel strike has a slot for hours and half-hours/
New Haven Black Mantle clock, circa 1915? This is a very nice original condition clock also made by New Haven Clock Co, and thus bears some similarities to the clock pictured above. However, like most mantle clocks, this one features regulation from the front, and short pendulum mounted to the back of the movement. An additional interesting feature of this clock is a fiber fly pinion in the strike train to make it more quite. Like the New Haven clock above, this one uses the strike train for both hours and halves.
Sessions Black Mantle clock, circa 1912. Someone has stripped the case of all of its decorations and then painted it to resemble green marble. First picture shows it bare as I found it, second picture is the movement, a spring-wound 8 day. Clock counts the hours on a coil gong, and sound a single note on a bell at the half. Third picture shows the case after I found some original Sessions feet and some repro lions for the sides. An interesting feature of this clock is that it can be regulated without stopping it. The last picture is one I found online and is basically the same clock, but with the decorations still intact.
Gilbert Tambour Clock, circa 1925. This is a nice original clock by the William L Gilbert Clock Co probably made in the 1920's. The clock has a nicely made and finished case and a brass 8-day movement with strike. A leather tipped hammer produces a nice tone when striking the hour and half. Like most mantle clocks, this one can be regulated from the front. Gilbert made some really fine clocks.
Owari Clock Co. This large dial wood cased clock was made in Japan by the Owari Clock Co (tokei is Japanese for clock, hence the Owaritokei marking on the dial.) Note interesting horse and globe trademark. The Owari Clock Co. apparently existed from 1894 until circa 1965. First photo shows clock after I finally got it back together and running. It was in bad shape, after being in storage in Hawaii for some time. Second photo is of the movement before cleaning. Note that it looks a lot like an Ansonia 8-day movement. This clock strikes the hours and half hours. Third photo shows the markings on the dial. Because the dial glass was broken in shipping, a lot of chips and scratches were put in it. Luckily the writing is still clear. fourth picture shows the stamp on the movement.
Japanese School Clock. Circa ? I thought this was a Korean-made clock, but while researching the above Owari clock, I saw a few clocks with the "T" trademark that were identified as Japanese. The movement is a copy of, or patterned after, movements made by the Ansonia Clock Co. The look and feel of the wood is that of an older clock, and I would guess it was made in the 1920's-1930's. The clock runs for 8 days and strikes the hour only.
1950's era 14 day German wall clock.
This is a 50's or 60's era 3-weight 24 hour clock that plays a melody on a 22-note music movement. First, the cuckoo calls the hour, then the Zither man comes out and plays two tunes, Tannhäuser March, and Lohengrin. The cuckoo bird's call is produced by two bellows-blown whistles tuned and played such that they imitate the call of this bird. A coil gong is also struck.
Another cuckoo clock, probably from the 1970's, has only 2 weights and only counts the hours and half-hours. It is also of 24 hour duration.
Kundo 1950's era 400 day clock.
Alarm clocks, being generally less expensive than other clocks, where the first clocks I collected. Many of them were Westclox models. Westclox clocks are very durably made, and many have survived in good condition.
Early models-these are 7 of the most commonly encountered older Westclox models, from left to right: Ben Hur with original blue paint; Big Ben Deluxe, this clock was originally crackle blue; America, a bell-top clock; Big Ben, with a black luminous dial; Sleep-Meter, this is basically a "peg-leg" version of the Ben Hur; Big Ben, this is the plain dial version; and Baby Ben. The Ben Hur and Big Ben Deluxe were made from 1927 to 1932, the others were made from circa 1910 to 1930, with the examples shown here all dating to the 1920's. Westclox stamped the date of manufacture on its movements, so it is always possible to date a Westclox to the month it was made.
Peg-leg models: the clocks with legs and bows. Left to right: America, Big Ben, Baby Ben, and Sleep-Meter. The America was produced as a bell-top model with only slight variations from the late 1880's until 1930.
Base models: Introduced in 1927: The Ben Hur, left, was a base version of the Sleep-Meter, and The Big Ben Deluxe, right. The Big Ben was repainted at some later date, but the gold base of the original blue crackle finish can be seen where the paint is chipped. The Ben Hur was not available in a crackle finish. You can see the blue crackle finish Big Be Deluxe, as well as a red (called Old Rose by Westclox) Baby Ben Deluxe in the 1927 magazine ad. The crackle green clock is the time-only Tiny Tim. All four cast-base models were available in three colors or nickel finish. In 1930, the crackle finish was discontinued in favor of solid color finish.
While the peg-leg Big Ben was produced until 1935, the Big Ben and Baby Ben Deluxe were made until 1932. I do not know when production of Ben Hur and Tiny Tim stopped.
Westclox middle models: Style 3 Big Ben, left; style 4 Baby Ben, middle; and style 5 Big Ben, right. The style 3 Big Ben was made from 1931-1934, and was available as a chime alarm only. No loud alarm option was available from 1932-1934. When the style 4 Big and Baby Bens were introduced in 1934, the Big Ben was available as a loud alarm or chime alarm, and will be identified as such on the dial. The style 4 Bens were made until 1939, when the style 5 case was introduced.
Westclox style 5 Big, right, and Baby, left, Bens. This case style was made from 1939 to 1949, with a few years interruption due to WWII. The case was designed by Henry Dreyfuss, who also designed the round Honeywell Thermostat. The Baby Ben bears this resemblance much stronger than the Big Ben. The Baby Ben shown here is interesting for a few reasons. The date stamped on the movement is 6 5 44-that's right, during WWII! Apparently, a few were made during the war. This one has an absolute minimum of nickel. Baby Ben movements were normally nickel plated until about 1951, but this one is plain brass. The keys and knobs on the back are also finished differently. Black clocks normally had nickel keys and knobs, this clock has blackened brass finish knobs and keys.
Westclox style 7 Bens: Big Bens on the back row, Baby Ben on the front. For continuity, I have included a Big Ben Electric. This case style was made from 1956-1964
Westclox late models: Big Ben style 7, left; Big Ben style 8, middle, and Big Ben style 9, right. The style 8 Bens were made from 1964 until 1980. The Style 8 Bens were the last Bens made in Illinois. The style 9 Bens were made from 1980 until 2001. The style 9 Bens were the last Westclox Bens to be made in the United States.
Westclox Baby Bens: these three are clocks I have pieced together. Left, a style 6 Baby Ben. The style 6 Bens were made from 1949 to 1956. Middle, a style 7 Baby Ben. Right, a style 8 Baby Ben.
For years it has bothered me that Westclox chose to put the fourth wheel exactly in line with the center wheel and alarm hand on the Big Ben movement, but never had a Big Ben with a seconds hand in the 6 o'clock position like a pocket watch or many contemporary German clocks. So I did. The fourth wheel is exactly 1" below the center wheel, and using a Big Ben parts clock and a scanned copy of the dial off my 1922 peg-leg Big Ben, I made a dial with a seconds bit at the 6 o'clock position.
The red seconds hand came off a late model twin bell parts clock, and though I'd like to use another alarm hand for the seconds bit, I rather like the red hand and may do a little filing on it so it will better match the other hands. It was very easy to extend the fourth wheel arbor. All Westclox wheels are built-up castings using brass wheels, and wires for the pinion leaves and pivots. The fourth wheel, escape wheel, and verge all use the same size wire for the pivot, so a piece was salvaged and pushed into the fourth wheel to extend the pivot to mount the hand. Why Westclox didn't make the Big Ben like this is a good question. The dial looks rather interesting with the additional and useful seconds bit. Many of the good quality European alarm clocks had a 6 o'clock seconds bit, and the Westclox Big Ben was also a good quality clock, so why not? (Note: Westclox did make some models with a seconds bit for specialist uses. The time only Tom Thumb, for example, normally did not have a seconds hand, but some were made for the US Medical Association with a seconds hand.)
Here are three models made by the E. Ingraham Clock Co.: left, a 1930's or 40's era 8-day alarm clock "Sentinel Dawn"; middle, a 1920's era "Double Duty" 30-hr alarm; and right, a 1920's or 1930's 30-hr alarm in a cast case. The two 30-hr clocks both use the same movement.
Left, a New Haven Clock Co. time only in a heavy cast case. Middle, a Waterbury Clock Co. "Thrift" model. Right, a William L Gilbert Clock Co. "Merit" model.
This is a 2-hour timer. Was probably used for timing X-ray equipment and other processes. I use it as a cooking timer.
General Electric Telechron Clock Model 531, "The Lorraine", 1929.
This section will detail the movements themselves.
Gilbert Movements
These are a few photos showing different details of a typical American 8-day mantle clock. This movement was designed to strike the hours on a gong, and a bell on the half hours. In some pictures, you will note that the hour hammer has been bent to strike the bell. It is similar in general details, to the movement used in the Gilbert Tambour clock shown above.
Striking train:
Train wheels and pinions:
The escapement:
Regulator:
General view of movement:
Sessions Movements
The movement shown here is similar to the one in the complete clock listed above, however, it is designed to strike the half-hour on the same gong that the hours are counted on. T do this and use the same count wheel as the half-hour bell models, an extra arm has been added to hammer shaft so that the cam in the minute arbor will activate it without the use of the strike train. Contrast this to the New Haven clock which used the strike train to strike both the hour and half hour.
Strike train:
Center wheel pinion:
Escapement and Regulator:
General view of movement:
Telechron Clocks-A really great site covering GE/Telechron clocks to 1959, covering virtually every model.
Westclox Clock History-Focus on Big/Baby Bens
Antique and Vintage Westclox Identification Homepage- For all Westclox models
Cloxmonkey-Very high Quality restorations and repair of Westclox clocks. It is my clock dream to have my luminous dial Big Ben restored by him... check out his bragging sheet for factory new/museum quality restorations.
Owari Clock Co (English). Owari Clock Co (Japanese). Some information on the Japanese Owari Clock Company.
Dan & Diana's Lux Clock Collection A very nice online gallery of clocks made by the Lux Clock Co.
