This magnificent American floor clock was made ca.1920 by the Waltham Clock Company of Waltham, Massachusetts. These clocks were made with a quality and attention to detail not found in modern-day floor (grandfather) clocks. Every bit of its construction was done to the finest level of workmanship available in its day. Some of the features that make this clock such high quality, are the following:
- CABINET
- Solid, dense mahogany with full size, full length columns.
- 3 locking doors, 1 full front and 2 for movement access to the right and left of the dial.
- 3 heavy cast brass hinges.
- All glass well beveled.
- MOVEMENT:
- Massive 8day/keywind/weight driven mechanism.
- Smoothly cut gear teeth with hardened & polished pinions.
- Polished high quality carbon steel shafts and pivots.
- All housed by very thick, high quality brass plates which are very resistive to wear.
- Chimes a choice of St. Michaels, Whittington or Westminster
melodies at the quarter hour on a set of 9 tubular bells, and
announcing the hour after the 4th quarter. These bells are like pipes,
made of a special alloyed brass called "bell brass", tuned & chrome
plated, and viewable inside the cabinet.
- DIAL
- The dial is decorated by the addition of the center portion and 4 corner spandrels made of art cast bronze, then gold plated.
- All numerals and decorative lines are hand engraved into silvered brass & finished flush with black sealing wax.
- A second's bit records the seconds as the pendulum swings and blued steel hands mark the time.
- All these components are fastened to a heavy guage brass plate using small screws with their heads on the backside of this plate to allow for a neat appearence on the front.
- Hand painted moon phase dial with seascape and landscape.
- PENDULUM:
- Heavy steel rod onto which a lead disc (bob), sealed in brass, is mounted. This is the timekeeping regulator for fast and slow adustments.
- Extreme right to left swing is exactly one second, recorded on the dials' seconds bit. Hence called a seconds beat pendulum.
- The brass clad disc is supported at the bottom to aid in temperature compensation
for accuracy. During warmer temperatures the steel rod expands, lenghening it
infinitesimally. Simultaneously, the disc expands upward, generally maintaining the
pendulums' center of gravity or length. The opposite happens during cooler
temperatures.
- WEIGHTS:
- Thick walled shells, capped at both ends & filled with lead.
- Largest on the right drives the chime portion of the clock.
- All on brass pulleys, suspended by high quality brass cable wound onto a drum (or
spool) inside the clock when the crank key is inserted through the dial and the clock is
wound.
Height 7'9", Width 26", Depth 17"
All original or restored to original condition throughout.
Excellent working condition.
$18,000.00