BRASS LANTERN CLOCK

An attempt at an ornament that tells the time in the style of an eighteenth century “lantern” style clock by Phil Coleman.

I’ve been very attracted to that style of clock as they just have that look of sturdiness and functionality while at the same time having a certain delicacy and style with their antique silvered dials and polished brass. Unfortunately, they have a few disadvantages.  They are nearly always weight driven, run for only 30 hours, have verge escapements that are noisy and lousy timekeepers.  In addition, they require their own mounting bracket on a wall with a hole in it for the fall of the weight.  In practice, one would soon tire of winding it every day and it would be just a nuisance gathering dust both externally and internally because of their open construction.

Therefore, I decided to make my version a table-top unit using a quartz movement. I knew that traditionalists in the Sydney Clockmakers Society might be horrified by this outrageous departure from “real” clockmaking and when I presented an account of my clock at the meeting in April I received an expected “rowdy” reception for two reasons: first was the fact that I am using a quartz movement and second that I was using a commercially purchased bell.

As mentioned, reproducing this clock style is impractical, but it remains an appealing and functional conversation piece. The idea came from Philip Kuchel, who recommended brass work and engraving, with a lantern-style clock as the example.   I am going to run with that and hope that fellow members see it in that light and overlook my temerity.

The second mistake was choosing a commercial bronze bell from Merritts USA.   I was never happy with the shape as it didn’t fit the size of the clock and was far too different to the typical early examples and Martin Foster persuaded me that it spoiled the whole look of the clock.  Then at the April meeting of the Society a visitor, Milton Wood, showed a brass bell that he had made and that gave me the impetus to make my own.  This I have done and the effect is much more in line with the type.  The bell is brass and is 80mm diameter and 40mm high.

There are photographs of a great many lantern clocks on the internet and I’ve adopted features from several, the principal one being that of London clockmaker Jonas Barber (1688-1764) of the early 18th century.  His clock is about 380mm tall (15”) while my attempt is about 220mm tall and 95mm wide.