Antique Way

Grandfather Clocks

I have long been involved with and have a passion for antique grandfather clocks, several of which have 'shone' on BBC television.

Please visit the antique clock galleries by clicking onto the menu at the side to view my current range of antique grandfather clocks, longcase clocks & tallcase clocks.

I have had dealings with every type of grandfather clock imaginable in my 30 years in the industry - including, of course, antique grandfather clocks ("longcase" or "tallcase" clocks). If you wish to gain information about a specific grandfather clock from one of my galleries, please use the contact page to do so.

Most antique grandfather clocks tend to fall into two categories, 8 day and 30 hour,although you will occasionally come across the exception that has a one month,three month,six month or even a twelve month movement. Normally,because of the extra gearing involved, a clock that goes for a month or more will wind anti-clockwise whereas an eight day clock winds clockwise.

A standard 8 day grandfather clock has two winding holes in the dial to facilitate its two weights and is wound with a key. As you look at the clock from the front,the weight on the left hand side is responsible for making it strike and the weight on the right hand side is responsible for making it go.

It is my belief that an 8 day clock is really a one week clock which allows you an extra day to wind it should you forget or are not available to wind it at the designated time on the designated weekly day.In addition to the brass or painted dial,antique grandfather clocks will often have other features like seconds and date dials.

Slightly less common are clocks that also incorporate either a moon phases disc,or an automatum such as a rocking ship.Rarer still are clocks which boast a variety of musical bells,or even reeds to make them sound like an organ.

Period grandfather clocks are generally made from oak, mahogany(sometimes a mixture of both) walnut or pine.Elm,fruitwood and satinwood sometimes come into the equation but they are far less common. The vast majority of early british grandfather clocks tend to be made of just the oak or walnut as mahogany was not imported into the UK until the mid 18th century.

A 30 hour clock is not wound by a key,but rather by a rope or a chain.It only has one weight and this weight is responsible not only for the running of the clock,but also for making it strike.It is once again my belief,that similar to the eight day clock,a 30 hour grandfather clock is merely a one day clock which affords the luxury of a further 6 hours or so, should you forget to wind it on time.

Sometimes a 30 hour clock will have what are known as dummy winding holes in the dial.Although they do not serve any actual purpose,they give a 30 hour clock the physical appearance of an eight day clock and make it look a little more grand, as usually,a 30 hour clock is not as expensive as its 8 day counterpart.

This type of antique grandfather clock first came into being in the early 18th century .The moon phases discs were very small at that time,about the size of an old penny, and thus they were called penny moons .As arched dial clocks gained momentum, so the moon phase disc increased in size to the one with which we are all now most familiar.ie.9" diameter

A moon phases disc normally has 4 small paintings on it. Two are moon faces which are opposite to each other,and then you have two other pictures which can be a combination of things.eg sailing ships, country scenes,cottages etc..

A full moon occurs every 29 1/2 days,after which time,the moon which started at the top of the dial will be at the bottom and vice versa. Every 15 days,either the country scene or the sailing ship or whatever else will be at the top and obviously, its opposite will be at the bottom.

Moon phases grandfather clocks were designed for one main reason. That reason was so that anyone wishing to travel by night would be able to tell from his clock when the next full moon would be and thus be able to plan his travel at a time when there would be most light to be guided by.