Antique and Vintage Mechanical Clocks

Gallery clocks are often found in public galleries and exhibition spaces, where they serve both functional and decorative purposes. They are usually placed on prominent walls and are designed to be easily visible to visitors. These clocks can vary in style, ranging from antique designs with Roman numerals to more modern and contemporary styles with sleek, minimalist features.

This particular clock is a bedroom clock. Why the bedroom? While many might not initially favour the idea of having a ticking mechanical clock in their bedrooms, its presence can actually offer significant benefits. Before I go further let me say I understand that some individuals may find the ticking sound disruptive to their sleep.

The therapeutic value of having a ticking sound in the bedroom to aid with sleep can vary from person to person. Some individuals find rhythmic sounds like ticking soothing and conducive to relaxation, helping them fall asleep faster.

However, others may find it distracting or even irritating, disrupting their sleep. Overall, it largely depends on personal preference and individual sensitivity to sounds during sleep. Nevertheless, for some individuals, opting to tune into off-station frequencies or running a fan for background noise is their preferred method, whereas our method of choice is the mechanical clock.

The Clock

This time-only gallery-style clock made by the Gilbert Company of USA is nondescript and quite ordinary-looking. There is nothing special or distinctive about it.

The casing of the clock is relatively light in weight, and based on the wood’s colouration, it appears to be cherry wood. A previous owner meticulously refinished the case, and while the result is impressive, it appears almost too flawless. It looks very good, nontheless.

The clock has a 12″ Arabic dial and is 16 1/2″ across with a spade hour hand and spade minute hand with a heavy brass dial bezel. The display would be easily seen in a large room. The dial is constructed from paper and lacks a metal backing, a common cost-saving measure.

A 12-inch dial is considered the standard size for a gallery clock, and a 12-inch dial would have been the maximum size for a domestic or small office environment or a retail establishment.

I own a smaller 10″ gallery clock, crafted in England, equipped with a conventional spring-driven movement, specifically designed for placement in a compact office setting. Larger 14″ and 16″-inch” gallery clocks, on the other hand, would have been found in public areas, factories, and post offices.

At first glance, without opening the case, it’s easy to mistake this conventional spring-driven pendulum clock for a fusee clock. Upon closer inspection, however, its features set it apart from the traditional fusee clock, revealing its true identity as an ordinary mass-produced spring-driven time-only American-made clock.

Once the hands are removed and the four screws holding the dial in place are taken out, the movement is revealed. It is a surprisingly large, trapezoidal design, somewhat larger than I had expected. The plates are made of steel and held together with nuts, while brass bushings have been inserted into the pivot holes—another indication of the cost-cutting measures used in its construction.

The only marking I could find on the movement is the number “56.” There is no manufacturer’s label or other identifying information. However, my research indicates that this model number 3008, manufactured around 1910.

The Issue

Although the clock appears complete and in good cosmetic condition, it has one significant problem—it will run for only 10 to 15 seconds before coming to a stop if completely wound. Whether the cause is nothing more than decades of dried oil and accumulated dirt or something more serious remains to be seen.

What I Discovered

Admittedly, not much. It is certainly worn, but I have seen much worse. If I had access to my own equipment, which I don’t while on vacation, I would install at least three new bushings. However, the wear is not so bad that it would cause the clock to stop.

My suspicion is that the mainspring is dirty and, once fully wound, has difficulty releasing its power because of the buildup of dirt and grime. Unfortunately, I do not have my spring winder with me, which makes servicing the mainspring a difficult procedure. I also do not have my C clamps with me so, I am using copper wire to restrain the movement while I clean the parts. That technique works, but there is an important distinction between restraining the spring and safely servicing it.

What I can do is clean the movement. Fortunately, I have an old Harbor Freight–style ultrasonic cleaner, which is good enough to adequately clean the parts.

Once out of the ultrasonic cleaner the parts were dried and closely inspected.The good news is that the pivots have no appreciable wear and the lantern pinions are in great shape.

Once I had the movement back together, I relaxed the mainspring to see if I could get between the coils with cotton swabs. I had limited success using that method, and it is ceratinly no subsitute for a thorough cleaning, but what I did extract was a fair amount of dirty oil.

The Novice and the Time-only Movement

For someone new to clock repair, a time-only movement is probably the best place to start. The movement is considerably simpler because it has only one train of wheels to worry about, with no striking mechanism, racks, snails, warning wheels, or associated levers to complicate matters. This allows a novice to concentrate on the fundamentals of mechanical clock repair—disassembly, cleaning, inspecting pivots and pivot holes, bushing, lubrication, reassembly, and setting the beat—without having to troubleshoot a second, much more complicated mechanism at the same time.

A time-only movement also makes it easier to understand how a clock actually works. You can follow the power from the mainspring through the wheel train to the escapement and see how the pendulum controls the release of that power. Once you are comfortable working on a time-only movement and understand how its individual components interact, moving on to a time-and-strike movement becomes much less intimidating. In my view, learning on a simple time-only movement is much like learning to drive in a car with a manual transmission: it teaches you the fundamentals without unnecessary complications.

Testing the Movement

Since I do not have access to a clock test stand, testing the movement in the case is the simplest and most effective method. I will run it through a couple of 8-day cycles to determine whether the movement will run reliably. I think it will.

Conclusion

A thorough inspection of the movement revealed some wear, but not enough to stop the clock. This led me to surmise that the mainspring needs a more thorough cleaning.

Sometimes, an ordinary clock can be the most rewarding to work on. This Gilbert gallery clock may not be remarkable in appearance or construction, but it provided a good opportunity to diagnose a problem, learn more about its movement, and bring it back to life. If it can run reliably through a couple of 8-day cycles, I will consider the repair a success—and another old clock saved for another generation.