April 21, 2017 by iantrowbridge

Ladies pendant watch

An American lady now living in the UK bought in a small pocket or pendant watch from her family. It has nail setting for the hands, the small pin to the left of the winder. It’s almost exactly an inch in diameter.

There are pearls around the edge and the back is probably enamelled, with inset stones.

Inside the back of the case is an engraved dedication:

Bessie W Smith June 1900

Opening the inner case reveals a hallmark:

The squirrel with letter G and the slightly strange K14 mark are the Swiss hallmarks for 14 carat gold assayed at Geneva. This mark was introduced in 1880, so the watch dates from the last two decades of the 19th century. There are no UK hallmarks so the watch must have been bought in Switzerland and been taken to the USA sometime during that period. I guess the dedication was engraved in the US and the watch was given as a present on a significant occasion.

It’s a cylinder escapement, common for that period, with no maker’s name. Here’s a closeup of the special teeth on the escape wheel:

The movement is 21mm in diameter, but unfortunately is not working. The mainspring is broken and the balance wheel moves sideways, showing at least one broken pivot and perhaps a broken cylinder.

The only source of cylinders for these watches is eBay, either a donor movement or if very lucky NOS (new old stock). Most potential donor watches have broken cylinders, which is why they are advertised for sale!

So it’s back to the owner to discuss the way forward.

February 9, 2016 by iantrowbridge

Rack Gravity clock

Just into the workshop, an unusual rack gravity clock by T W Bazeley of Cheltenham

Here’s a copy of the original advertisement from 1981 for these clocks

The motive power for the clock is the weight of the clock itself (it’s a heavy brass cylinder). As it falls on the pole, rack teeth cut on the pole turn a barrel. The clock has a platform escapement.

There is an adjuster at the back of the case which is supposed to engage with the adjustment lever on the platform escapement. Unfortunately the adjuster has been catching on the rack pole when the clock is wound (by raising the entire clock by hand up the pole) and has been rubbing against the escapement and has broken one pivot of the balance staff, and worn the adjuster mounting.

The only feasible repair is to replace the entire platform escapement. Luckily these are still available (although not necessarily exact matches), so it’s over to the supplier’s catalogues to find an equivalent.

December 4, 2015 by iantrowbridge

Longcase striking problems

In the workshop at the moment is a longcase mechanism with a problem with the strike. Basically it wouldn’t! I removed the hands and dial to expose the rack striking mechanism, and found that the lifting lever was not being raised high enough to start the strike. The warning was happening, but not the strike. Suspecting a bent lifting piece, I removed the lever, which promptly fell into two parts in my hands! The brass pivot piece of the lever was covered in solder so I decided to apply some heat to see what had been joined. Here’s the result, a set of bits!

The lifting piece had obviously suffered some sort of catastrophic failure many years ago and all the parts had been carefully soft soldered back together. I think a new brass lifting piece and pivot is required!

Update

I spoke to the customer (who had just moved house) about the problem. The clock was now to be sited in her sitting room, and she was concerned that the sound of the striking would disturb everyone in the house. I told her that without the repair the clock would not strike, but would run perfectly well, so we decided to leave the parts with the clock and postpone any repair until the strike was wanted.

September 20, 2015 by iantrowbridge

Comtoise part 2

I’ve now unsoldered the arbor from the barrel and cleaned it up a little:

The barrel ends are in poor condition after the de-soldering:

In order to retain as much of the original as possible I will machine a brass plug to fit inside the barrel which will give strong support to the strike weight.

September 18, 2015 by iantrowbridge

Comtoise part 1

This week I was asked to look at a “grandfather” clock. It turned out to be a French comtoise or morbier clock in a very tall case.

Comtoise clocks were made in large numbers in the vicinity of Morbier in the Franche -Comté region of France, near the Swiss frontier, from the late 17th century to the beginning of the 20th. They are sometimes called Morez clocks or Morbier clocks, from place names in the area. In the 19th century they were to be found far and wide across France, virtually ousting all other local clock making traditions. They were often marked with the name and town of the seller rather than those of the maker.

Here’s a picture of the dial:

The clock had suffered a catastrophic failure of the strike train winding barrel. The end plates of the barrel appear to be castings, with the barrel itself probably rolled and soldered into the end plates. This assembly is also soldered to the barrel arbor. The casting had fractured, and the owner had attempted to re-solder it to the arbor, but the strength of the strike weight had been too much for the joint.

There would seem to be two possible courses of action, either make a completely new barrel, or repair the broken one, using as much of it as possible. I’m still debating the pros and cons of both, and I’ve also posed the question on the NAWCC forum.

Some history

Chateaulin is a town in Brittany, north-west France, and a search for Besnard, clockmaker, threw up some interesting history. Lucien Besnard opened a shop (a jewellers, or bijouterie) in the rue d’Eglise in Chateaulin in 1850, and the shop is still there today, still in the family (screenshot from Google Streetview):

The story appears on a french website http://www.letelegramme.fr/local/finistere-sud/chateaulin-carhaix/chateaulin/bijouterie-depuis-163-ans-dans-la-famille-04-02-2013-1993820.php with a photo of the shop taken about 1910:

Here is the french text of the article:

Fondée en 1850, la bijouterie de la rue de l’Église est sans doute le seul commerce châteaulinois à avoir perduré aussi longtemps dans la même famille. Gilles Rault, l’arrière-petit-fils du fondateur, en a conservé la mémoire.

Mon arrière-grand-père racontait qu’il y avait des files d’attente sur la place pour venir acheter ses fameuses horloges comtoises. Et que les charrettes, bloquées, faisaient la queue sur le pont ». C’était au XIX e siècle et déjà le franchissement de l’Aulne ne coulait pas de source. Du moins à en croire Lucien Besnard, l’aïeul de Gilles Rault. « Dans la famille, il se disait qu’il avait parfois tendance à en rajouter », tempère le bijoutier de la rue de l’Église. « Il soutenait aussi que, lorsqu’il ouvrit sa boutique en 1850, il était le premier bijoutier horloger du Finistère ». Marie-Thé Rault, l’épouse de Gilles, en doute. « Quand même, il devait bien y en avoir d’autres à Brest ou à Quimper.

Mariage arrangé

Quoi qu’il en soit, Lucien Besnard était un précurseur. Et pas seulement dans l’horlogerie ou la bijouterie. Il était aussi opticien et vendait des cuillères de mariage, très en vogue à l’époque. « Mon arrière-grand-père était originaire de Normandie. Son frère et lui s’étaient mariés avec deux soeurs. Un mariage arrangé, comme c’était souvent la coutume, par les représentants qui sillonnaient la France pour placer leurs marchandises. Ils en profitaient pour mettre en relation les candidats aux épousailles ». En se mariant avec Marie Digne, Lucien Besnard débarqua donc dans la cité de l’Aulne en 1850. « Il y fit bâtir l’actuelle maison où se trouve toujours notre bijouterie ». La rue de l’Église regorgeait alors de commerces. D’anciennes photos, conservées par la famille, attestent de la présence d’un tabac, attenant à l’actuelle bijouterie, et plus haut, d’une librairie.

Maison de confiance

Gilles Rault a aussi conservé une ancienne publicité. À l’époque, on n’y allait pas de main morte dans la « com ». « Habitants de la ville et de la campagne, mettez-vous en garde contre certains marchands peu scrupuleux qui vous exploitent en vous vendant du doublé pour de l’or », claironne la pub de la Maison Besnard. Une « maison de confiance », où l’on pouvait acquérir une montre en or pour « 50F ». À la mort de Lucien, en 1921, son fils Eugène, lui succéda. « Tout en conservant l’activité historique de son père, il développa l’affaire en vendant des phonographes, et leurs aiguilles qui s’usaient si vite, mais aussi des postes de radio, des machines à coudre, des stylos plumes… ». La fille d’Eugène, qui, à 85 ans, a toujours bon pied bon oeil, épousa André Rault, le père de Gilles, aujourd’hui disparu. « Un temps, la boutique a associé les deux noms, Besnard et Rault, pour finir par n’en conserver qu’un seul. Puis, mon père a surtout développé l’optique, activité qui fit sa renommée ».

Qui prendra la relève ?

L’optique, Gilles Rault l’a abandonnée en reprenant l’affaire familiale en 1973. Après six années passées à se former à l’école d’horlogerie de Dreux, puis celle de bijouterie à Besançon, « l’artisan » s’est recentré sur les métiers d’origine de la famille. Avec sa femme, ils ont aussi suivi des cours à l’école de gemmologie de Rennes, pour tout savoir sur les pierres précieuses. Et si Gilles Rault ne vend plus d’horloge comtoise, il sait toujours les réparer. « À une époque où le jetable a pris le pas, les artisans sont devenus des dinosaures ». Des dinosaures qui vendent aussi sur internet. Les temps changent. Quant à la succession, les enfants de Gilles et Marie-Thé ont choisi une autre voie professionnelle. « Peut-être que nos petits-enfants prendront la relève ».

© Le Télégramme – Plus d’information sur http://www.letelegramme.fr/local/finistere-sud/chateaulin-carhaix/chateaulin/bijouterie-depuis-163-ans-dans-la-famille-04-02-2013-1993820.php

And here is a translation:

Founded in 1850, the jewellers in the rue de l’Eglise is probably the only shop in Châteaulin to have lasted so long in the same family. Gilles Rault, the great-grand-son of the founder, tells the story.

My great-grandfather told that there were queues in the square to come in and buy its famous Comtoise clocks. And that carts, blocked, would line up on the bridge. ” It was in the nineteenth century and already crossing l’Aulne was not easy. At least according to Lucien Besnard, the grandfather of Gilles Rault. “In the family, it was said that he sometimes exaggerated,” cautions the jeweller in the rue de l’Eglise. “He also argued that, when he opened his shop in 1850, it was the first watchmaker and jeweller in Finistère”. Marie-Thé Rault, wife of Gilles is doubtful. “Still, there had to be others in Brest or Quimper.

Arranged marriage

Anyway, Lucien Besnard was a pioneer. And not just in watches or jewelry. He was also an optician and sold wedding spoons, very fashionable at the time. “My great-grandfather was from Normandy. He and his brother were married to two sisters. An arranged marriage, as was often the custom, by representatives who traveled around France selling their goods. They took the opportunity to introduce eligible men and women . ” By marrying Marie Digne, Lucien Besnard then landed in the city on l’Aulne in 1850. “There he built the present house which has always been our jewellers shop.” The rue de l’Eglise has always been full of shops and businesses. Old photos kept by the family show a tobacconists, adjoining the current jewellers, and above, a bookstore.

House of trust

Gilles Rault has also kept old publicity material. At the time, advertising was not subtle. “Inhabitants of the city and countryside, be on your guard against unscrupulous traders who exploit you by selling you gold at twice the proper price,” trumpeted the publicity for the House of Besnard. A “trusted shop,” where you could buy a gold watch for “50F”. On the death of Lucien, in 1921, his son Eugene, succeeded him. “While preserving the historic activities of his father, he developed the business by selling gramophones and their needles which wore so fast, but also radios, sewing machines, feather pens … “. The daughter of Eugene, who, at age 85, is still going strong, married André Rault’s father Gilles, now deceased. “One time the shop had the two names, Besnard and Rault, eventually only one. Then, my father especially developed optics, activity that made him famous. “

Who will take over?

Gilles Rault abandoned optics on taking over the family business in 1973. After six years at Dreux watchmaking school, then the jewelery school in Besançon, he refocused on the original family business. With his wife, they have also taken courses at Rennes gemology school to learn all about gemstones. And if Gilles Rault sells more comtoise clocks, he always knows how to repair them. “At a time when the disposable took precedence, artisans have become dinosaurs.” Dinosaurs that also sell online. Times change. As for the succession, the children of Gilles and Marie-Thé have chosen another career path. “Maybe our grandchildren will take over.”

The history of the shop and the style and details of the clock (anchor escapement, spring pendulum suspension) therefore dates it to shortly after 1850.

June 2, 2014 by iantrowbridge

Roberts of Ruabon – part 2

My research and discussions with other clock repairers has not come to a definite conclusion regarding the strange escapement in this clock, which you may recall runs for a while then simply stops, probably from lack of impulse. However, opinion is just on the side of the escape wheel being back-to-front, so as I had the clock apart I decided to reverse it on it’s collet. The easiest way to test the escapement was to reassemble the going train in the plates:

Immediately I added the weight (no pendulum yet) the escapement started to operate – always a good sign! But I didn’t want to try it for too long due to the state of the pivots and holes.

So back to the workshop, turn and polish the pivots and re-bush the plates for the going train only at this stage. Reassemble, onto the test stand, and away it went! You can see a short video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM6te1_i0-8

Now I can clean the whole mechanism and repair the strike train parts.

May 6, 2014 by iantrowbridge

Roberts of Ruabon

I was called to look at a long case clock that was having problems. The case was very shallow and I could see where the weights had been touching the inside of the front of the case, but moving the movement a fraction backwards caused the pendulum to rub on the backboard. The brass dial is inscribed with Jon Roberts Ruabon, who was active there until 1759 when he apparently moved to Wrexham. The owner kindly delivered the movement to me and I’ve been able to have a better look at the clock on the workshop stand. It’s revealed a bit of a puzzle. The clock runs for a while then simply stops, but the escapement (escape wheel/pallets combination) is not working correctly as it appears that either the escape wheel is on back-to-front or the pallets are incorrect – possibly due to a repair in the distant past. I’ve shot a brief video that shows the operation; it’s on youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkO0iO5QC1M

I’ve linked this video to an internet horology discussion group to try to sort out the best way to correct this whilst maintaining the integrity of the clock. There are also a couple of other things that have become apparent – the great wheel on the strike side is loose on the barrel arbor, the click spring on the going barrel needs to be replaced, and the rack hook spring is far too weak.

Dismantling the clock unfortunately revealed further wear and tear and more puzzles. The brass dial is attached to a false plate which suggests it is not original to the movement, but the false plate seems to be riveted onto the dial with very old rivets! There is also evidence of alterations to the false plate, namely pencil marks showing where additional cutouts were needed:

Many of the pivot holes in the plates had been hammered with a centre punch in an attempt to close them to compensate for pivot wear:

But in most cases this seems to have had the effect of creating a sharp edge to the pivot hole which has helped to wear the pivots badly:

Careful measurement leads me to believe that there is just enough metal remaining to turn down the pivots rather than have to re-pivot entirely. The affected pivot holes will of course have to be bushed.

November 5, 2013 by iantrowbridge

Seth Thomas wall clock – part 2

The entire movement has been stripped down and has been through the ultrasonic tank using the Horogreen 3-part process. Temporarily reassembled it now looks a lot better than it did:

The plates will be given a final polish before final assembly.

Now I could properly examine the pivot holes in the plates for wear; here’s two examples:

These are visibly oval, and the side-shake can be easily felt. Most of the pivot holes will need to be bushed – Bergeon bushes of the required sizes have been ordered from Cousins UK.

Most of the arbor pivots are worn as well:

Here’s one that has been turned in the lathe with a pivot file and burnisher, and awaits a final polish:

August 29, 2013 by iantrowbridge

Seth Thomas wall clock

Recently into the workshop is a round dial Seth Thomas wall clock. The owners said that it was losing about 2 mins per day, getting worse as the spring ran down. It was the type where the hands have to be removed and then the complete dial lifts off leaving the movement attached to the rear of the case. This is what I found:

The first thing to notice are the two star wheels at the bottom which are not attached to anything. These are the remains of the stopwork, designed to prevent the clock from being overwound; the other parts of the stopwork have been discarded but you can see on the plates where they have rubbed round the winding arbors. It is not uncommon for the stopwork to be removed. It seems that as the springs weaken with age the stopwork prevents the clock from being fully wound – removing it helps to keep the clock going for longer.

Also missing is a rod on the left hand side which hangs from the strike lever through the eye at the lower left. This adds weight to the strike lever and helps it to return the lever into the deep slots in the count wheel. However, the extra weight may prevent the going train from raising the strike lever if the spring is weak.

But the really strange thing is the escape wheel/pallets combination. Here’s a closer view:

The escape wheel rotates counter-clockwise, and as the teeth point in the direction of rotation we would expect the escapement to be a deadbeat, or since this is a Seth Thomas with bent metal pallets, a semi-deadbeat. But the correct pallets would be curved at both ends – what we see here is a set of pallets for a recoil escapement, and on a recoil escape wheel the teeth point backwards.

I have no idea how the clock has run for so long, but one effect has been to bend the tips of almost all the teeth on the escape wheel.

One possible solution is to replace the escape wheel and pallets with a matched pair. Recoil escapements of the correct type are available for a modest cost from M & P. I’m also seeking the views of members of the NAWCC discussion forum on the best way to proceed.

February 25, 2013 by iantrowbridge

Quartz conversion 2a

I received a call from the owner of one of my recent slave-clock quartz conversions, that it was running slow and occasionally stopped!

Back in the workshop I noticed that the counter-weight portion of the hands were extremely close at certain positions, and my guess is that they had been touching. The hands had small additional weights riveted to them which increased their thickness, so since I used a high torque movement I removed the weights and the clock has been running fine for several days.

Chiswick Clock Repair

An occasional blog