I’ve an abiding interest in clocks and watches. I like the look of them, and I love the fact that the mechanical ones are self-contained machines. Of course, mechanical timepieces are an anachronism – electronic ones are far more accurate, and almost everyone carries a mobile phone, and these can all tell the time. But I don’t think I care.
The Collection
I have a collection of a few watches and over 20 clocks. I’ve learned the painful lesson that buying old watches from eBay is a mug’s game – they’ll either be worn out, or ugly, or both. Clocks, on the other hand, are less risky prospects; they’ve mostly sat still on someone’s wall for most of their life. They’re easier to work on and you can usually get them running. Strangely, parts don’t seem to be that difficult to obtain.
My clocks are of very different types. I have a Congreve clock that I built from a kit, cheap mechanical clocks that came from charity shops, and one modern German clock that came from an expensive timepiece specialist. I’ve electronic clocks built from kits and some Dutch clocks that were eBay purchases. All of the clocks have one thing in common – they are silent; mostly simply because if the chiming or striking mechanism isn’t wound, it doesn’t effect the time-keeping part. Some are weight-driven, some have wound springs. Of the electronic ones, some are battery driven and some work on the mains power supply.