Anyone in Clocks (Bracket or Longcase)?

Not a bracket clock, not a long case clock, and not mine. This clock was by the Gilbert Clock Co., Bristol, Conn., circa late 19th century. The movement is a weight driven, seconds beat regulator, commonly used by railroad watch inspectors. I have looked after this clock for the family for about 25 years. It was originally owned by the present owner’s grandfather who was a railroad watch inspector in Regina, Saskatchewan. This clock ran on the wall of his jewellery store for decades. It came to live with his daughter in Calgary when he closed his store in the 1960s. That was when I first saw the clock. Five years ago, it came to live with his grand daughter. It has worked quite well with only minor attention until six months ago.

March of ‘23 at the time change to Mountain daylight time, upon resetting the time, something happened which resulted in the clock quitting! The owner phoned me, and over I went. Symptoms indicated right off the bat, that the pallets and escape wheel had finally worn out!

I brought it to my shop, thereby beginning a six month odyssey to try to return it to health. Six months, you say! Such a simple clock? Solving problems on badly worn, simple, old clocks is often not a simple matter. Especially one with a dead beat escapement, and a pendulum that weighs about 25 pounds! And requiring fabrication of replacement parts when the original sample parts are worn out!

An excellent machinist/clock builder friend of mine fabricated a new escape wheel, anchor, anchor hub, and anchor arbor for it. I have fabricated numerous smaller parts, as well.

Finally, after a matter of months trying to get it to run, I re-profiled the impulse faces of the anchor and polished them, re-assembled it, and voila! Done deal. It is on final test at present, and goes back to the owner in mid-September. Along with a sizeable bill,

If and when it breaks down, these cannot be repaired. A lot of these are made in Korea, re-badged Japan. I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of it, so I’ll say no more.

Earlier in this thread, I showed pictures of a 120 (+ or -) year old jeweller’s regulator clock on the test stand in my shop. I have resurrected it from nearly dead. A jeweller’s regulator was typically seen in jewellery stores who had a technician on staff who was capable at servicing high performance (usually pocket) watches for railroaders. These clocks were usually (but not always) equipped with a centre sweep seconds hand, were weight driven, and (as with this example) often had massive pendulums on them. This clock was made by the William L. Gilbert Clock Co. in Winsted Conn. These clocks were often wall mounted (as with this example), or could have stood on the floor. The pendulum beats 60 beats to the minute. This one has been in the same family for about 75 years. It was an antique when the grandfather of the present owner set it up in his railroad watch inspector/jewellery store in Regina, Saskatchewan in the 1950s. It is now the third generation of this family that possesses it. The 12-hour dial on this one is vitreous enamel, but this type of dial was not a requirement. It is now back on the living room wall in the owner’s home after having been in sick bay for 6 months. The owner insisted that she take a picture of the clock with me beside it.

A lot of English tall clocks that reached North America, came with those who emigrated. In many instances, the hardware came with their luggage, and the case left behind. The result being that it is a rare occurrence that we encounter one that might be totally original. Same with dials! But the work of art shown by @Bernhard J is absolutely museum quality! A joy to behold!