Your first thought might be the Blackforest region of Germany and there is, indeed, a close relationship to that region to a small clock company that operated many years ago in Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Blackforest is (or was) a well-known Canadian clock company. The Blackforest Clock Company of Toronto, Ontario was founded by Leopold and … More Blackforest clocks – I must be a sucker for these things
Tick-Talk Tuesday is about the letters and comments I have received from you, the reader, concerning your clock, issues you might have had, challenges you face or a clock you would like me to profile and my responses to your questions with advice on your particular clock concern. For those comments and questions that stump … More Tick Talk Tuesday #14 – Can you tell me something about my Forestville clock
The clock is a 1937 Blackforest Royal Tour commemorative edition shelf clock with an 8-day time-only “plate” clock movement. Plate clock movements are so-called because they were typically used on kitchen clocks with Dutch Delft plates such as this one in the next photo. The movement is likely German and could have been made by a number of … More Blackforest shelf clock (Canadian made) gives me grief but decides to run again
The clock is an instrument designed to keep and indicate time. It is one of the oldest human inventions. The clock has evolved through the ages from sundials in ancient times to early tower clocks of the 14th century and weight driven clocks and finally spring driven clocks from the 1840s to the 1970s. A … More What style of clock do I have?
This weeks profile is about the cuckoo clock. I do not have one in my collection but I am always open to new additions. IÂ know almost nothing about them so I have to rely on knowledgeable people like Megan to fill in the blanks. Earlier this summer (2017) I received an email from Megan. … More The Cuckoo clock – A brief history
You bought a clock. It ran when you first saw it but you bring it home, display it in that very spot you imagined and now it won’t run. 99% of the time this is caused by a clock not being in beat. All mechanical clocks must be set in beat before they will run … More Is my clock in beat?
I am a retired college professor based in Nova Scotia Canada, live in a little village just outside Truro and collect vintage and antique clocks that I repair and maintain. I also write about horological areas of interest and of interesting clocks and clock stories that I encounter on my travels. In the spring of … More 2016 – Time to reflect, a year in summary
I prefer time-only clocks above anything else. They are simple to work on and because they are less complex they tend to be more accurate, relatively speaking. Most are easy to service but this little guy has me stumped. Thousands of these relatively small German movements were made and some found their way into small … More Stubborn little plate clock movement
Last summer (2015) I bought a Blackforest time-only shelf clock for $10 at a small antique store in Kazabazua, Quebec which you see pictured below. To be fair it did not look like this when I bought it. It was quite beaten up and a case refresh was sorely needed which included stripping and re-staining. It’s a relatively simple … More Searching for a donor movement pays off
What is a shelf clock? If you have a number of clocks as I do it can be quite confusing to describe each specific type to the average person but it is really quite simple. Let me explain how you can identify the clock you might be looking at. The term shelf clock is a broad category but I believe it can be … More The shelf clock – what is it, exactly?
Shelf clocks such as the one pictured have always been hard to find though I did stumble upon this one very recently (April 2016) at an antique store in Great Village, Nova Scotia. Why, because of their cheap construction and inexpensive movements, not many of these clocks have survived over the years. This one might have had a … More A curious little Blackforest shelf clock
If you are looking for clocks from the Black Forest region of Germany I hate to disappoint. This post is about the Forestville Clock Company of Canada. Forestville clocks were assembled in Canada with foreign movements in local and foreign-made cases through the late 1920s to the mid-1970s. This Forestville mantel clock is not particularly … More Forestville mantel clock
I have dis-assembled this clock twice. After the first dis-assembly I cleaned and oiled it, found everything to be in order but once I assembled it, bench-tested it to find everything seemingly correct and set the beat  it would not run more that 5 to 10 minutes at a time. When it stopped it seemed to catch on … More Blackforest Shelf Clock Progress
If you are following this blog this is the same clock as the previous post. Since the movement was very dirty, I cleaned it up (ultrasonic cleaner) when all apart and reassembled and oiled it. It is a one-train movement, so not many gear wheels and pretty easy to work on. You can see by the … More Blackforest Shelf Clock Progress
This is a Blackforest shelf or kitchen clock made before the Second Word War. Blackforest is a Canadian clock company.  The Blackforest Clock Company of Toronto, Ontario was founded by Leopold and Sara Stossel in 1928. Both clock movements and complete clocks were imported from Germany and sold through department and jewelry stores across Canada. Their … More Blackforest shelf / kitchen / cottage clock
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