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For those that are interested in clocks.


oldhippy

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In case you are wondering what is behind the dial of a French Strike Carriage Clock, click on this link and the small photos. The seller says it is fully restored, I beg to differ. No screws have been touched, they should have all the burrs removed and polished, certain ones should have been blued.  There is no steel pin to hold the hammer in place. Poor re-bushing, you can see the repairs, in these clocks you should not be able to see them, it is called (invisible re-bushing). None of the steel work behind the dial has been cleaned and it looks like a hairline fracture on the gathering pallet, this happens when it has been forced on due to closing the hole to hold it tight on the pivot because there is no hole to insert a pin, as you can see the pin is missing.  It has a nice silvered platform, but because of the condition of the screws, the appearance lets it down. The dial is simply excellent as this would be solid silver, I do not see any bad marks at all. The case is very nice in its appearance. This certainly adds to the value of the clock. Because of what I have pointed out, I think it is a little steep in price.  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superb-antique-repeater-French-carriage-clock-c-1900-10-fully-restored/113111265450?hash=item1a55f4f0aa:g:lyIAAOSwmVBbDDxz

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Its a nice looking carriage clock but overall let down by poor finish the devil is in the detail with these clocks and its the detail that takes up the time on cleaning these clocks  , I'm also not sure why the mainspring barrel seems to have had a hole drilled into it, and none of the wheels are shiny enough for my liking if it had been chalked they would have come up nice and shiny, but as you say the case is a beauty its also been over oiled there are pools of oil around some of the oil sinks, I've noticed since working on these clock that on over oiled clocks this often leaves the plates stained as well as leaving the pivot running dry.

Its the sort of clock that would fetch £400-£600 at auction so to be asking £1,150 and claiming its restored is pretty typical of a lot of sellers on ebay 

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Agreed the screws are rough and the bushing leaves a lot to be desired, but the craftsmanship in the making of the clock is obvious and I do love that dial.

Bit out of my price range though, especially as I have just spent a bit on ebay to avoid the 10% GST that kicks in on ebay for all Australians on the 1st of July.

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I forgot the barrel. Some repairers (butchers) used this practise to oil the springs, so they didn’t have to take the movement apart. I expect it has been ultrasonically cleaned.   I think you ae very modest with your valuation.   

Have you seen the last Longcase marriage I put up? That is a real turkey.

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4 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

 

I forgot the barrel. Some repairers (butchers) used this practise to oil the springs, so they didn’t have to take the movement apart. I expect it has been ultrasonically cleaned.   I think you ae very modest with your valuation.   

Have you seen the last Longcase marriage I put up? That is a real turkey.

I know little about clocks. I have two nice carriage clocks. The one we are discussing appears to be over oiled  especially over the rear plate area.  It has run (3 in one?) ? Some screws are left rough and that hole drilled in the barred, well....This is however a very nice clock and no doubt runs.  Why is the regulator shown in 2 different settings ? Now you mention it the hammer retaining pin is missing. This clock in my opinion will fool an unknowledgeable buyer. However it is well worth correct reinstatement. Job for old hippy !!.

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56 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

I think you ae very modest with your valuation

I may be but I subscribe to a web site that collates auction prices from the last 20 years the genral trend at the moment is that prices have dropped off quite significantly over the last 5 years there are some very good carriage clock's going through auction houses at the moment and not fetching anything like they used to fetch, infact the exact opposite to what watches have done in the same period,

Although having said that the very top end of the market has remained stable 

Its quite a useful web site to subscribe to a lot of what gets put on ebay comes straight from auction I have seen many clocks and been able to check how much the seller actually paid for it at auction.

The seller of this clock acutually paid £450.00 at Dreawatts auction house Newbury Berkshire .

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The site is called "the saleroom" it is free to join but the part of the site that has all the latest and historic sales results is subscription only I think it is £5.99 a month to join that part.

Another thing that can be added to whats wrong with the clock is they have over cleaned it and polished off all the original frosted gold gilt finish it looked far better before I cant show a direct link to the clock as bought because its part of a protected secure website but believe me its been ruined.

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44 minutes ago, wls1971 said:

The site is called "the saleroom" it is free to join but the part of the site that has all the latest and historic sales results is subscription only I think it is £5.99 a month to join that part.

Another thing that can be added to whats wrong with the clock is they have over cleaned it and polished off all the original frosted gold gilt finish it looked far better before I cant show a direct link to the clock as bought because its part of a protected secure website but believe me its been ruined.

Agree a lovely clock, should not have left the pin off for the hammer, in time, that could fall off. Easy fix..Not worth the money he is asking....

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