Antique Style Clocks
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Kassel 15 Day Wall Grandfather Clock
This antique replica 15 day wall clock is 31-1/2" tall, 12-1/2" wide
and 5-1/2" deep. It is beautifully crafted in solid Linden wood with
a glass front that reveals the swinging pendulum inside. This
beautiful old style vintage wall grandfather clock chimes the hour (5
times at 5 o'clock, etc.) and once on the half hour. Pendulum length
adjusts to make the clock run faster or slower. This nostalgic clock
could easily become a family heirloom that can be enjoyed for years to
come. Includes winding key. Retails for $129.99. 1 year
warranty.
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Item # HHWWC
UPC: 024409093593
Dimensions 31-1/2" x
12-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Shipping weight 12 pounds
$89.99
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Brookwood by Kassel 15 Day Wall Clock
This traditional vintage old style 15 day wall clock features a
beautifully crafted solid Linden wood case, decorative glass front which
reveals the face and swinging pendulum. This beautiful antique
replica clock chimes the hour and once on the half hour. Pendulum length
adjusts to make the clock run faster or slower. Includes a winding
key. Retails for $129.99. 1 year warranty.
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Item # HHWWC9
UPC: 024409090264
Dimensions 23" x 10-3/4" x
5-1/4"
Shipping weight 14 pounds
$89.99
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Kassel Black Forest Cuckoo Clock
Enjoy a hint of the Black Forest with the original antique style Kassel
Black Forest Cuckoo Clock adorned with flora and fauna from the forests.
This beautiful vintage cuckoo clock is made in Germany and features
intricate carvings and Roman numerals on its face. The cuckoo comes
out each hour to announce the time with his famous sound. This clock
is wound by pulling the round ring on the end of the chain down and
raising the pine cone weight up to the wood clock. Weights, pendulum
and unit need a wall space of 90" x 6-1/2" x 5-1/2". This
clock retails for $334.99. 90 day warranty on mechanical parts.
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Edward Meyer 31 Day Grandfather Clock
with Beveled Glass
Features 31-day movement, beveled glass, decorative side panels, brass
tone decorative pulleys, and polished pendulum. The beautifully crafted
wood shows all the love and attention given to fine furniture by craftsmen
who take pride in their work. Each clock includes a winding key and it
chimes the hour and once on the half hour. The pendulum length adjusts to
make the clock run faster or slower. Some assembly required. Measures
19-1/4” x 75” x 10-1/2”. Limited one year warranty.
Suggested Retail Price : $729.95
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Features:
- 31-Day Movement
- Beveled Glass
- Decorative Side Panels
- Brass Tone Decorative Pulleys
- Polished Pendulum
- Beautifully Crafted Wood
- Winding Key
- Chimes The Hour And Once On The Half Hour
- Pendulum Length Adjusts To Make The Clock Run Faster Or Slower
- Some Assembly Required
- Measures 19-1/4” X 75” X 10-1/2”
- Limited One Year Warranty
Item # HHGFCBEV
UPC: 024409057991
Dimensions 75" x
19-1/4" x 10-1/2"
Shipping weight 43.46
pounds
$289.99
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Edward Meyer 31 Day Grandfather Clock
with Beveled Glass
Features 31-day movement, beveled glass, decorative side panels,
pull-out drawer in the base, large brass finished pendulum with 3 weights.
The beautifully crafted wood has a timeless beauty and easily represents
the love and attention given to fine furniture by craftsmen who take pride
in their work. Each clock includes a winding key and it chimes the hour
and once on the half hour. The total measurement is 20-7/8” x 80-1/4” x
10”. Some assembly required.
Suggested Retail Price : $870.95
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Features:
- 31-Day Movement
- Beveled Glass
- Decorative Side Panels
- Pull-Out Drawer In Base
- Large Brass Finished Pendulum With Three Weights
- Beautifully Crafted Wood
- Winding Key
- Chimes The Hour And Once On The Half Hour
- Measures 20-7/8” X 80-1/4” X 10”
- Some Assembly Required
Item # HHGFC80
UPC: 024409074349
Dimensions 80-1/4" x
20-7/8" x 10"
Shipping weight 60.80
pounds
$329.99
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History of Clocks
The history of the time telling device can be traced to antiquity.
Vitruvius reports that the ancient Egyptians used clepsydras, a time mechanism
run by flowing water. By the 9th century AD a mechanical timekeeper had been
developed that lacked only an escapement mechanism. There is a record that in
1176 Sens Cathedral installed a ‘horologe’—the word still used in French for
large clocks. It is derived from the Greek hora meaning ‘hour’ and legein
meaning ‘to tell. This word has led scholars to believe that these tower
clocks did not employ hands or dials, but “told” the time with audible
signals.
The earliest reasonably accurate clocks are the 13th century tower clocks
probably developed for (and perhaps by) monks in Northern Italy. These were
used to announce the canonical hours or intervals between set times of prayer.
Canonical hours differ in length, and varied as the times of sunrise and
sunset shifted.
The earliest table clocks that survive in any quantity are mid-16th century
ones from the metalworking towns of Nuremberg and Augsburg. These clocks have
only one hand. The dial between the hour markers is divided into four equal
parts making the clocks readable to the nearest 15 minutes.
The next major development in accuracy occurred in 1657 with the invention
of the pendulum clock. Galileo had the idea to use a swinging bob to propel
the motion of a time telling device earlier in the 17th century. Christian
Huygens, however, is usually credited as the inventor. He determined the
mathematical formula that related pendulum length to time (99.38 cm or 39.13
in for the one second movement) and had the first pendulum driven clock made.
In 1670, the English clockmaker William Clement created the anchor escapement,
an improvement over Huygens' crown escapement. Within just one generation,
minute hands and then second hands were added.
The excitement over the pendulum clock attracted the attention of designers
resulting in a proliferation of clock forms. Notably, the long case clock (aka
grandfather clock) was created to house the pendulum and works. The English
clockmaker William Clement, inventor of the anchor escapement, is credited
developing this form in 1670. It was also at this time that clock cases began
to be made of wood and clock faces to employ enamel.
Notable Clocks
- Tower Clock (see
Big Ben, its largest bell) at the
Palace of Westminster,
London
-
Prague Orloj, a 15th century
astronomical clock at the Town Hall, Prague, Czech Republic
-
Peace Tower clock at the Centre Block of the
Parliament of Canada,
Ottawa
- 10,000-year
Clock of the Long Now
- Harrison H4,
John Harrison clock that won the
Longitude prize
-
Doomsday clock shows the symbolic minutes to midnight where midnight
represents destruction by
nuclear war (not a clock in the traditional sense)
- The
Kremlin clock is located on the
Spasskaya Tower of the
Moscow Kremlin.
- The
Allen-Bradley Clock, the world's largest four sided clock, located in
Wisconsin.
The Cuckoo Clock
A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically a pendulum clock, that strikes the
hours using small bellows and whistles that imitate the call of the Common
Cuckoo bird in addition to striking on a wire gong.
The design of a cuckoo clock is now conventional. Most are made in the
shape of a rustic birdhouse or chalet. They hang on the wall, and are housed
in wooden cases, frequently decorated with carved leaves; sometimes deer and
other animals are added. Most now have an automaton of the bird that appears
through a small trap door when the clock is striking, and vanishes behind the
door after the clock is done.
The bird is often made to move while the clock strikes, typically by means
of an arm that lifts the back of the carving. Some have musical movements, and
play a tune on a music box before striking the hours or half-hours. Musical
cuckoo clocks frequently have other automata that move when the music box
plays. The clocks are almost always weight driven; a very few cuckoo clocks
are spring driven.
In recent years, fake quartz battery powered cuckoo clocks have been sold;
these do not have genuine cuckoo bellows, and typically generate their
striking sounds electronically. The weights are conventionally cast in the
shape of pine cones. The pendulum bob is often another carved leaf. The dial
is small, and typically marked with Roman numerals.
The cuckoo clock was invented in the Black Forest town of Schönwald,
Germany, by Franz Ketterer in 1738. Ketterer designed the system of small
bellows and whistles that imitates the Cuckoo's call, and added them to a
standard Dutch clock. Later refinements of the design changed the clock's
shape to the familiar birdhouse or chalet. The centre of their production
continues to be in the Black Forest region of Germany, in the area of Triberg
and Neustadt. The cuckoo clock is often wrongly associated with Switzerland,
as in the movie The Third Man. This error is probably due to a story by Mark
Twain in which the hero depicts the Swiss town of Lucerne as the home of
cuckoo clocks.
The Grandfather Clock
A grandfather clock, also floor clock or long case clock, is a freestanding
clock with a pendulum held inside its own tower, commonly around 6-8 ft tall.
The tower often features elaborately carved wood at the head, surrounding the
clock face. The English clockmaker William Clement is credited with the
development of this form in 1670.
How Grandfather Clocks Got Their Name
Over one hundred years ago there was a hotel known as the George Hotel that
was managed by two brothers named Jenkins. The hotel had a floor clock that
kept time very well.
One of the two brothers died, and the clock started to lose time. Repair
attempts were made, but they all failed. When the other brother died at the
age of 90, the clocked stopped running altogether, and was never repaired in
remembrance of the brothers.
Around 1875, Henry Work, a song writer, was staying at the George Hotel and
learned the story of the old floor clock. He decided to write a song about the
clock. The song became very popular and sold over a million copies.
The first part of the song goes: "Oh, my grandfather's clock was too tall
for the shelf, so it stood ninety years on the floor. It was taller by half
than the old man himself, though it weighed not a pennyweight more." After
this, people started calling floor clocks by the name grandfather clocks.
These articles are licensed under the "GNU Free Documentation License".
They use material from the Wikipedia articles; "Clock",
"Cuckoo_clock"
and "Grandfather_clock".
