Identification please.

[Blacklab]

This has just been passed to me for restoration:

Quite acceptable on the outside, strikes but does not run, pendulum missing (may turn up soon), movement very dirty & not signed:

Shows serial number 169240 with 18 above on the back plate, 20 on the front plate. Apart from the grime everything seems to be in good order. Any information about the movement (age, maker etc.) would be gratefully received. Also pendulum info would be useful (if the original turns out to have disappeared for good).

[oldhippy]

Something tells me this is German, I don't know it's just a gut felling. If it isn't German then it would be English.

The case is an architectural form with what looks like a silvered dial with roman numerals with spade style blued hands and what looks to be a mahogany or mahogany type case going by the one and only case picture.  

The movement is a 8 day Westminster chime with half hour and hour strike and spring driven. It has a regulator hand blued on the dial above the 12. It strikes on gongs. It looks like an anchor escapement.

Here is a picture of what I think the pendulum should look like. You are lucky to have the original suspension spring as this can be used as a guide to the length of the pendulum rod, but the weight you can only guess, It would be quite heavy. The numbers you have quoted to me doesn't help me in any way sorry.         

[Blacklab]

Thanks for the info OH. Likewise I think its German & may have had a makers name plate screwed above the serial number:

I would suspect that this may have been removed after WW1 due to the anti German attitude at the time, ultimately causing German clocks & other imported goods being labelled 'Foreign'. A quick search for pictures of German bracket clock movements shows similar clocks & movements with missing name plates.

The movement is now stripped awaiting cleaning & I did manage to get it running beforehand. Initial inspection shows no undue wear to the pivots or bushes & no broken or missing parts, so (hopefully) it should be a simple clean & oil. Undecided at the moment whether to re-silver the dial:

 

[oldhippy]

I would leave the dial to me its still in good condition. I would go along with that sort of period about the early 1920's.

Here is a good one for you I'm very much into my family tree and on my late Mothers side I found a Bismarck Hambling born 1896, I bet he was popular in the times of WW 1.

 

Edited May 30, 2016 by oldhippy

[Blacklab]

After a rather long pause I finally got round to putting it all back together again. I do respect your advice O.H. but in the end I did re silver the dial & frame:

The movement was dipped in Priory clock cleaner & polished as reqd. Reassembly went without any major incident:

Hands cleaned & re blued, new leather pads fitted to strikers, case cleaned with Priory polish reviver.

Before & after:

Apart from cleaning off the crud on the gongs these were left as is, along with the side & back fabric & mesh grills. Going like a train, gongs & bongs all happy. All in all an enjoyable one, but I am still waiting for the pendulum (which has been found apparently) & none the wiser to identification. 

[oldhippy]

That's a fantastic job and well done to you the dial does look a lot better. I still think is more likely German then English.

[Blacklab]

Thanks O.H. I do agree that its probably German as I have seen similar on searches, nothing positive as yet but I will keep looking.

[Geo]

Stunning job BL, I really appreciate quality work!

[MilTimeCan]

amazing job 

[SSTEEL]

Incredible, well done, thats beautiful now, it was originally, but you have now taken it to the next level.

[Vich]

Lovely to see, really good work, well done.

Cheers,
Vic

[Cad101]

Now that's work to be proud of well done lad 

Mick

[oldhippy]

This is what I would expect to see when a clock has been restored properly. Its how it would have looked when new. Blacklab has done a wonderful restore. 

[clockboy]

Great job done Blacklab. Bravo

[Tmuir]

Nicely done.

I really like the resilvering of the dial

[sperki77]

Beautiful job, Blacklab!  Hats off to you!

[Blacklab]

Thanks for the kind words all. Tmuir if you want to re silver a dial (presuming you haven't in the past) look no further than here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1JxGUgcHnE special thanks to oldhippy for the heads up on this in an earlier post.

[vinn3]

Quote

nice looking clock