Searching for a weight driven time-only banjo clock can be a challenge and acquiring an authentic example would go a long way to completing my collection. Securing an authentic Willard would certainly be the icing on the cake.

The style was widely copied by other members of the Willard family of clock makers and many others clock-makers

I was fortunate to have seen several Willard banjo clocks during my visit to the Willard Museum in Grafton Mass. in June 2019.

Few American clock-makers at the beginning of the 18th century were innovative. One of the most notable achievements was the small 8-day, weight-driven clock developed by Simon Willard. The Willard clock is a uniquely American wall clock with a banjo-shaped case designed and constructed by Simon Willard. Willard was originally of Grafton, Massachusetts, later of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and patented his unique clock in 1802.

The Willard banjo clock has no striking mechanism and indicates time only by its hands and dial. It is correctly defined as a timepiece.

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