Tag: scottish tall case clock

Clock auctions – Ron’s rules for bidding

HAC mantel clock

The psychology of auctions, now that would be a fascinating study. How bidders behave, the frenzy of bidding wars often called “auction fever“, and the emotions wrapped into the pursuit of that one item everybody seems to want would be very enlightening.

Ingraham 30 hour cottage clock, under $30 at auction

Auctions are fantastic places to find great deals. I have found many clocks at auction for exceptional prices and have few regrets.

This post will explore how to use auction rules to the best advantage based on my experience and my observations. Presented are Ron’s tips that I have found effective. The focus is on online auction houses. eBay is another world but I suppose some of my advice may apply.

The photos on this page are auction wins over the past two years.

The classic auction

Although there are other types, the classic type of auction is where a seller sets the price, plus a time limit and bidders are encouraged to bid on the item. The highest bidder wins. This type of auction remains popular because of the familiarity and intuitive nature of the process.

Auctions can be live or online but online auctions are becoming much more common.

Using the “watch list” if offered

Many auction sites have a “watch list” which is a cool method of bookmarking the items you may (or may not) bid on. I generally peruse the auction offerings and click the watch button for those that interest me and in so doing generate a “list” of ten to twenty items for potential bids.

I hold off on bidding until I can determine which ones interest me the most, how much I am prepared to pay, and the total I have budgeted for the auction. I attempt to work within my budget but may make some adjustments during the auction.

The watch list also allows for a sober second thought before or during any auction. Put another way, I thought I wanted the item before but now I don’t.

Why you should not bid early

Auction sites want people to bid early to show everyone there is interest in the item. By revealing interest in the item others might be tempted to bid and this will drive up the bids. This benefits the auction house which makes more money on any item that sells higher. Novice auction goers are easily caught in this trap. Try not to get caught up bidding too high and too early in an auction even if it is something you really want. Fight the urge!

Establishing a limit

I consider each item carefully based on the photos and descriptions provided, determine what I would pay for the item in optimal condition, and factor in wear and tear or any parts missing in order to set an upper limit for my bid.

A tactic that works surprisingly well is to determine a maximum price on an item when the auction opens, make that bid and leave the auction.

Scottish tall case clock
Scottish tall case clock, $275 plus fees and taxes

Let’s say I bid $60, then leave the auction site. The next day or after the auction has ended, I will know if I won within my limit, or lost. If monitoring the auction a green win button will light on what you have won otherwise auction houses send out invoices after the auction has ended detailing items you have won. Winning is very satisfying, of course, but losing is not such a terrible thing, there is plenty of fish in the sea.

Others participating in the auction might also have set the same limit for themselves on a particular item. If I’m willing to spend $60, am I willing to spend $5 more (assuming a bid increment is $5). If I bid just higher than my limit assuming my limit is the same as others, I may still win the item without ignoring the budget I have set for the auction.

Without determining your limit, it’s too easy to get into a bidding war that might go something like this, “I was willing to spend $75, and I was outbid at $80. I could go $5 more and bid $85 but if I lose it at $85, $10 is only a tiny bit more”, and so on.

Stay within the upper limit and do not get caught up in a last-second feeding frenzy.

Auction “estimates”

This is just another method of forcing the bid higher. Ignore auction estimates unless there is a “reserve” on the item. A reserve price is a minimum price that a seller would be willing to accept from a buyer. In an auction, the seller is not typically required to disclose the reserve price to potential buyers. If the reserve price is not met, the seller is not required to sell the item, even to the highest bidder.

Proxy bidding

Most auction sites allow proxy bidding, meaning they will keep your bid as low as possible so you can win, but not exceed your maximum limit.

It works this way. I decide on a $60 upper limit and the auction’s bid increments are $5. At the start someone bids $5, I have set my bid at $60 but currently have the winning bid at $10. If someone else bids $25, my bid automatically goes to $30. They come back at $35, and my bid automatically goes to $40. If the auction ends at that point, I won the item for $40. If someone else came back before the auction ended with a $65 bid, then they win, but I do not exceed my limit. I then walk away from that item and focus on the next.

Rare items

Rare items that are desirable can be expensive. Humans tend to overvalue things they think are rare. However, thinking an item is rare might influence you to bid higher. The item may, in fact, be quite common. Do your research beforehand, or even during the auction.

For example, ogee-style clocks that some people would consider to be quite rare are, in fact, very common as thousands were produced by many American manufacturers over a span of 70 odd years.

Chauncey Jerome ogee clock, $35 at auction

Not so hidden fees and costs

There are additional fees and taxes as you would expect. Auction fees called “buyer’s Premium” is set by the auction house. The buyer’s premium is a percentage that is an additional charge on the hammer piece of the lot which is paid by the winner. Some auction houses will call it a service fee but think of it as a commission.

Buyers’ premiums may be higher for online auctions than live auctions and the percentage varies from auction house to auction house, typically between 15% and 20%. Some auction houses may even have an additional service fee above the buyer’s premium. Add taxes to determine the final price. A winning bid of $60 with a 15% buyer’s premium (our local auction houses) and sales taxes of 15% (Nova Scotia) pushes the final price to $79.35. It is the final price assuming you can jump into your car and bring the item home, otherwise, there are shipping costs. Suddenly your $60 win costs $200.

As a general rule, I do not request antique clocks to be shipped as the risk of breakage is too high.

The psychology of ownership

Here’s how it works. While you hold the winning bid, you begin to feel a sense of ownership, and the longer one holds the bid the stronger the sense of ownership. When outbid, you may think someone is trying to steal something from you and you want it back but now you are caught up in bid frenzy. To get it back you bid higher. However, even if you win the item you still lose because you have likely overpaid for it. Buyer’s remorse is the sense of regret after having paid too much.

Related is the Endowment Effect, meaning people will assign more value to an item that they own purely because they own it. This type of behaviour is typically triggered with items that have a strong emotional or symbolic significance to the individual such as something they had as a child or other nostalgic item.

A pocketful of money

Let’s say I plan on spending $500 at an online auction including buyer’s premium, tax, and shipping, so, I am limiting my actual bidding to approximately $300. Perhaps I am looking at only two items in the auction. For one I’m willing to go to $100, and for the other, I’m willing to bid up to $200 for a total of $300. I win the first item (for which I was willing to spend $100) for $25. I can now decide whether I should spend $200 on the second item, or if I’m now willing to go up to $275.

Determining a budget limit introduces an element of self-control and allows one to refocus attention on other auction offerings. It is also helpful when you are not watching the auction when it ends.

This is always an individual choice based on how much you feel the items are worth and what your research is telling you.

Ansonia Canada parlour clock, part of a $30 lot

Clock auction houses

An auction that consists only of antique clocks is a tough one to navigate and to win an item at a decent price. These auctions attract all manner of collectors and you might be bidding against a very determined collector who will want an item at any cost.

I find the prices in antique clock auctions to be generally quite high and unless you are looking for that special clock it is best to avoid them unless money is no object. I have much better success with estate auctions that do not generally attract dedicated clock collectors so, for the most part, you are bidding against people who have poor knowledge of antique and vintage clocks.

I suppose there are plenty of other strategies but these are the ones that have worked for me.

Scottish tall case clock with new top finials

The final step in the repair/restoration of my tall case clock are the top finials. This clock had top corner finials at one point in its life. There is evidence that something was there on either side of the crown. I have no idea what they might have looked like but judging from photos of many tall case clocks of the 1850s period they were likely a brass ball type.

My first sight of the clock in a corner of an auction house

It is a classic Scottish tall case design from the 1850s. The removable bonnet is 23 inches at its widest point, the waist is 15 3/4 inches wide and the base is 20 inches wide. The bonnet has tapered columns on either side. The dial access door which covers the entire bonnet swings to the right. The solid wood access door on the waist measures 9 X 24. The clock stands approximately 84 inches.

Continue reading “Scottish tall case clock with new top finials” →

The pandemic allowed time to service my clocks and help me understand “sympathetic vibration”

I know many of you did your best to adapt to isolation during what is now known as The Coronavirus Pandemic. It changed the way we think, the way we behave and the way we interact with each other. My condolences to those who suffered during this infamous chapter of our lives particularly those of you who lost loved ones.

I had already established my clock hobby long beforehand so the last few months meant that I was able to focus on tasks that I had planned to do but wondered whether I would ever have the time. Corvid19 changed that.

What was also very different was that I could no longer acquire new clocks to add to my collection. So, instead of searching for new ones, I serviced ones in my collection which is not a bad thing.

However, on day 6 of the weekly cycle, the clock would stop and always on day 6. Why?

I was very productive.

I have a small but growing collection of Arthur Pequegnat clocks and was able to service a good number of them and in the process learn the differences, some major and some minor, between early Pequegnat movements and later ones. I honed my skills as a clockmaker, meeting new challenges with each movement I worked on. Four of those clocks are:

Restored Athur Pequegnat Bedford mantel clock
Arthur Pequegnat Bedford shelf clock

Restored Arthur Pequegnat Bedford shelf clock; case and movement are now done.

Arthur Pequegnat Canuk, kitchen clock

Arthur Pequegnat Simcoe
Arthur Pequegnat Simcoe

As with the Bedford, Maple Leaf “pointed top” and the Simcoe the cases, including the dial and movement were done.

Maple Leaf kitchen clock, the “pointed top”

However, I was also able to focus on what I consider my most exciting clock acquisition in the last 3 years, my circa 1850 Scottish tall case clock.

I reconditioned and repaired the case and serviced what I would call the most frustrating movement I have encountered to date, an English bell strike. Plenty of patience is required for this one. It is all about small adjustments and in this case, mostly the strike side. Just when you think things are going well, another issue surfaces. I should have expected that working on a 170-year-old clock is not easy.

McLachlan tall case clock

English bell strike

I was unable to return the movement to the case immediately because it had to go through the testing process which meant constructing a clock stand. I have two other stands but they are too short and made specifically for wall and mantel clocks. Taking ideas from similar test stands online I constructed a 48″ high tall case test stand for my English bell strike movement.

A tall case test stand

The phenomenon of sympathetic vibration

However, during movement testing which lasted for weeks, I encountered a consistent problem. On day 6 of the weekly cycle, the clock would stop and always at about the same point in time. Why? It is something called “sympathetic vibration”. When the clock stops as the weights descended to the level of the pendulum a harmonic phenomenon occurs “wherein a formerly passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness”.

In practical terms, when the weights on a tall clock descend to the point where it’s at about the same height as the pendulum, the weights may begin to swing slightly. Since the power that drives the pendulum is now swinging the weight as well, the pendulum does not get its share of power and stops. Sometimes, despite the swinging of the weights the movement soldiers on but in the case of this movement there is insufficient over-swing of the pendulum to compensate for the loss of power.

It can generally be addressed in a tall case clock by fastening the upper part of the case to the wall, or by mounting the case on a solid foundation. For a free-standing clock stand placing a block of stiff foam rubber between the stand and the wall usually cures the problem.

Although the Scottish tall case project consumed a lot of time, it was very satisfying and it was a great learning experience.

More clocks

There are some other clocks I could have mentioned, two German time and strike clocks, a Mauthe and a Muller, a Gufa Westminster chime but suffice to say I made a lot of progress with my collection.

However, beyond the hours of time, it is self-satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment while engaged in productive activities that are the real intrinsic benefits. And folks, that’s what a hobby is all about.

Restoring an 1850s Scottish tall clock case – Part II

Mclachlan dial

Restoring the case of an 1850s period Scottish tall case clock with an English bell strike is the subject of this blog. This is Part II of a two-part series. Check out Part I here.

While the case was made in Scotland, the movement, dial and weights are all from Birmingham, England made at or before 1850. The clock was in fair condition when I bought it from an estate auction early in 2020, though I knew almost immediately that structural repairs and cosmetic fixes were necessary. My work was cut out for me.

It is rare to find a clock from this period that has not been subject to minor or even major repairs/changes over the years, some acceptable, others questionable

In Part I, I addressed age cracks, a cracked backboard and attaching a backboard to the waist section. In this, Part II, I will continue with installing new door pins, fashioning a missing right rear foot, cleaning the case and overall case refinishing.

New door pins

Both upper and lower door pins were missing. I considered what I would use as pins. Wood screws could work.

I cut the heads off two 3/4 inch steel wood screws and threaded each screw into the existing holes at the top and bottom of the frame. They are more than strong enough to hold the bonnet access door and appear authentic.

I learned that the poured cement on my basement floor is not level. It took me a 1/2 hour of crawling on the basement floor to find a perfectly level area

Continue reading “Restoring an 1850s Scottish tall clock case – Part II” →

Restoring an 1850s Scottish tall clock case – Part I

This is my first experience with a tall case clock from the 1850s and my first venture into English bell strike movement servicing.

Let me explain. Although the case was made in Scotland, the movement, dial and weights are all from Birmingham, England made at or before 1850. The clock was in fair condition when I bought it from an estate auction early in 2020, though I knew almost immediately that structural repairs and cosmetic fixes were necessary.

In this Part I, I will address case age cracks, a cracked backboard and attaching the backboard to the waist.

In Part II, I will continue with new door pins, replacing a missing right rear foot, cleaning the case, overall finishing & attending to various trim pieces.

Although modern adhesives were used for the main structural repairs, some trim pieces were attached using traditional hot hide glue

The first question is how to address present structural issues. Should I utilize materials and techniques that would have been available at the time or select a modern method that would ensure that the part(s) will continue to provide strength, rigidity and service for many years to come? I used both approaches and my apologies to the purists.

As found, standing in a corner of the auction hall

Continue reading “Restoring an 1850s Scottish tall clock case – Part I” →

Disassembling an antique tall case clock

The disassembly of an antique tall case clock need not be a daunting task. When I bought this clock at auction at the beginning of 2020 I put into practice some of the things I had learned when transporting a Ridgeway grandfather clock in 2013. My advice is to work slowly and methodically but think about what you are doing at each step of the process.

Why disassemble? A move across town, across the country, or even redecorating are three of many reasons. Even if you wish to move the clock from one area of your home to another disassembly is required. Yes, moving it a few inches requires disassembly.

Scottish tall case clock from the 1850s

An antique tall case clock, such as this weight-driven Scottish tall case clock from the 1850s with an English brass bell strike, can be easily disassembled by one person. In this blog, I will walk you through the steps required to safely disassemble an antique tall case clock.

Similar American tall case clocks from the same period are disassembled in the same manner.

Continue reading “Disassembling an antique tall case clock” →

Scottish tall case clock circa 1850s

For the past several years my wife and I have been searching for an authentic antique tall case clock. I finally found one at an estate auction an hour down the road from where I live and seized the opportunity to purchase a clock I knew practically nothing about. In this blog article, I will describe first impressions and the results of my preliminary research.

I have had only one tall clock in my collection, a Ridgeway Westminster chime clock from the mid-1990s. It is stately with handsome lines but it is a modern clock with a contemporary German-made movement and certainly not an antique.

Continue reading “Scottish tall case clock circa 1850s” →

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