Regency Auction Grandfather Clock Advice

I help people out with clock identification via email. I try to keep it quick but always end up spending too much time on it. I have plenty of proper work to do. I like doing it and it creates the community I like to believe exists for this website but Im wasting my time….unless I publish the enquiries and replies so everyone can benefit from the iformation imparted. I really dont know why Ive not th0ught of this before. So from now on Im going to try and quickly post up any of the longer replies as opposed to the ones that go “.3.5mm, dont bend the hands and makes you use the rubber washer or the face will rotate. All the best justin.”. Incidentally thats fitting sizing and fitting a quartz movement advice. Anyway, heres the first letter Im posting up.

On 2019-09-16 18:27, Derek wrote:
> Can I take you up on your generous offer of a basic evaluation on this
> English long case clock which I bought at auction recently. After
> repairing the foot of the crutch it has been running smoothly and
> accurately driven by its single continuous chain. The name on the dial
> is R. Stevens with Stovesley underneath. The photos are attached.
>
> Thanks
>
> Derek Aspin

Auction_Grandfather_Clock_Advice

Hi Derek,

The case is typical of a late georgian i.e. 1770 and the face ans size of the clock push the dating a bit further forward to the regency period when urns and swags were the decorative fashion.

With a chain it must be a 30 hour clock and such things were the equivalent of a cheap car at the time – A major purchase for the owner but done to a budget. The hand decoration on the dial is ok, the hands look original and its a late enough clock for there to be a high chance its in its original case.

Watch out for the chiming mechanism on 30 hour chain clocks. The method the clock uses to stop itself after each chime sequence is pretty brutal so if you just blue-tak the top fly wheel on the chime train firmly this will stop the clock chiming an save your rattling it to bits, realistically beyond repair. Turn the chimes on at xmas and when you have friends over rather than have it on all the time.

Good buy although the clocks wear quickly due to being pretty basic from a movement perspective. When you get your next one talk to me and Ill try and point you in the next direction. I change my grandfather clock every few years – it can refresh the look of an entire room. The best clocks are smaller e.g. 5.5ft, exotic wood e.g. walnut veneer or chinese laquer, brass faced (pre-1770) and in my view the square ones have the edge from a practical and aesthetic perspective. A good reconditioned brass face with polished brass, guilded spandrels, and a re-silvered chapter ring (we can do all that if you buy a dilapidated one) is probably my next clock. At the moment I have a Mason London arch dial 1730 I love but it may be time…. for a change.

Got to go, lots to do. Well done on your purchase and happy to assist.
Regards,
Justin Holt
Braintree Clock Repairs
www.braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk
07462 269529