The belief that bad luck happens in threes is a common folk belief that suggests that if you experience one bad event or stroke of bad luck, two more are likely to follow in quick succession. While this adage is not grounded in any scientific or empirical evidence, it has persisted for years.
In this blog post, I will recount a series of unfortunate events I’ve experienced with one specific clock, a German-made mahogany-cased Junghans Hansruck time and strike mantel clock from the latter part of 1913.
While my bad luck didn’t unfold rapidly it seems that I was destined to have problems with this clock from the outset.
Some time ago, I purchased the clock through an online auction. Emerging as the successful bidder, I arranged for the clock to be shipped to my location. It arrived intact and undamaged.
Setback Number One
After unpacking the clock, I immediately set out to test its functionality. I wound up both the strike side and the time side, ready to set the correct time when the minute hand unexpectedly snapped off. It wasn’t an ideal beginning, to say the least. While the minute hand was repairable, it added another layer of frustration to contend with.
Okay, I can deal with the hand later. Back to the clock. The clock wasn’t working after all, but a good cleaning and addressing any wear issues should get it running again.
I managed to solder the hand and put it aside while I addressed the movement.
Setback Number Two
I serviced the movement, reassembled it, and placed it on the test stand. It ran smoothly for a few days on the time side, but the strike side had issues. While investigating the malfunction I identified a small stamped metal part on the movement had bent. In an attempt to straighten it, I inadvertently applied too much force, causing the piece to snap off. I’ll call the part an actuator.
The strike actuator when activated lifts a lever to begin the strike process. The actuator is attached to the front plate with a small machine screw and is free to move.
On the center arbor is a star cam. The 2 points on the star cam rotate every 30 minutes until a star point pushes the strike actuator to begin the strike sequence. A protruding piece of metal, the contact piece for the star point on the actuator, is the part that broke as I was attempting to unbend it.
As the actuator does not apply much pressure on the lever above it, soldering should do the trick. Back to more soldering.
The actuator is repaired and the hand has been soldered. Both are functioning like new and the movement is running well on the test stand.
Setback Number Three
Satisfied that everything was working correctly after the testing phase and the movement was keeping good time I then proceeded to mount the movement into its case.
Here’s how I think the third mishap occurred.
When mounting the movement into its case, I positioned the case glass side down without any padding. My attempts to secure the movement into the case might have inadvertently stressed the dial glass, leading it to break. I didn’t hear the crack, and the second possibility is that it occurred earlier, possibly getting kicked accidentally on the floor next to my desk.
The bottom line is, that the glass is now cracked, necessitating either replacing it or salvaging the dial bezel from another clock. I don’t suppose anyone has a magical resin that will hide the crack.
I thought so!
Most errors in clockwork are fixable, but a damaged dial glass is an exception—it cannot be repaired.
Cracked glass aside it is a very nice clock and it runs well.
Are setbacks a good thing?
I don’t often publish my mistakes but in the spirit of transparency and the unpredictable nature of clock restoration, it seems fitting to share this series of setbacks with my audience.
So, does bad luck happen in threes? From a statistical perspective, events occurring in threes are not more likely than any other numerical pattern but it happened.
Setbacks are a natural part of the process and should not deter anyone from passionately pursuing a hobby they love. Not every restoration or service of a clock goes according to plan and it’s normal to face unexpected issues when restoring or servicing clocks that are over 100 years old.
Yes, of course, there are lessons learned. But it just seems very strange that all of this happened to me with this one clock.
Antique and Vintage Clocks 
Thanks, Ron. No schadenfreude intended. Even experienced repairers as yourself make mistakes. My morgue holds (too) many of my ham fisted failures. Waiting for more skilled hands than mine to do a Lazarus on them. Bring back from the dead. Expensive lessons. What not to do.
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