Featured Carriage Clock France

Hi,
I'm looking for information on this carriage clock. The only marks are made in France. This has the key but it doesn't work. Small bit of damage to one corner of the glass on the back, the enamel face has damage along the edge. I thought it was a replacement face but with the damage think it might be original. Not sure if who made it is possible without some sort of mark. I'm thinking this would be late 1800s?
I'd like to keep this one but it will depend on the cost to get it going again.
A couple of photos show remnants of tape (from holding the key on top) that I haven't cleaned off yet. this is 4 1/4" x 3" x 2 1/2".
Any information appreciated.
thanks for looking.

 

more photos

 

I love carriage clocks. I have a small one of my own that sits on the bookcase next to my piano. I've wanted one for almost as long as I've been alive, and when I finally got the chance to buy one, I JUMPED on it!

They were invented in around 1790-1810 (the date varies depending on where you read it) by the legendary watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet, for the French Army (at the request of Napoleon, no less), so they've definitely been around for a bloody long time.

Most carriage clocks that are around today would've been built in the period between the second half of the 1800s up to around 1920/30. They were extremely popular as gifts, presents, one-off luxury purchases and such.

Yours says quite clearly "MADE IN FRANCE", so that would suggest early 20th century to me, when country-of-origin laws were tightened at around that time. That said, the vast majority of carriage clocks WERE made in France, anyway. Some were made in Switzerland and a few were made in England and the States from what I've read, but almost all the rest were made in France. It's where they were invented, so it's hardly surprising, I guess.

Servicing and cleaning the clock is definitely possible, but it's probably gonna cost a bit. I asked a clock guy in my town what it'd cost me if I asked him to service mine (11 jewel mechanical one made in around 1980) and he said depending on what needs to be done (and what the customer asks for), it starts at $300. For the REALLY complicated carriage clocks it can shoot WAY up.

 

Oh my!!! I just bought one a couple of weeks ago that seems very much like this...
It's injured and I'll dig it out tomorrow.

 

Oooh I wanna see it!!

 

Thanks for all the information shangas! I love them too, so hoping this won't cost too much to get it going

Good point for dating this!

Yes, dig yours out KOT and post some photos.

 

Here's my clock:





Has an 11-jewel movement. From the research I've conducted, a carriage clock of decent quality had anywhere from 9 to 11 to 15 jewels. I'm not aware of any higher jewel-counts. I think most of the carriage clocks sold by firms like Tiffany & Co were 11-15 jewels.

 

Looks very nice! Do you have the travel case for it?

 

No, it didn't come with its case, sadly.

 

It would be a good idea to do a few simple tests to see why it does not work. The first is to see if the spring will wind. The second is to look in the window at the top and see if the balance wheel will swing if the clock is twisted in a horizontal plane. If it is wound up already at least the spring is OK. If the balance wheel will swing for a few ticks, that is probably OK, so the problem is likely to be simple neglect. Springs get gummed up with old dried oil. They also become less springy after many years and should be replaced, but the hedge repairer's cure of pulling the spring out straightish, then refitting it does work after a fashion.
Cleaning a simple timepiece (that one is a carriage timepiece, not a carriage clock, as clock is the term for a striking clock, a timepiece is a non striking clock) takes from an hour to three hours depending on how slow or thorough you are.

There are so few clock repairers left that they tend to charge what they like, all accounts I hear of prices seem absurdly high, usually more than the cost of a similar item in full working order.

This timepiece is as basic as they come. It has a standard obis size corniche case with what appears to be a cylinder escapement. Round here (England) I could buy one as described for about $50 to $60 equivalent in that condition (auction prices). Repair except as a do it yourself project is usually uneconomical, I'm sorry to say. If the balance staff of a cylinder escapement is broken, replacing it is a very highly skilled and expensive job, despite the fact that the cylinder escapement was the cheapest form of escapement originally. Replacement platform escapements have also become far more expensive than they were 30 years ago.


I'd date that one as early 20th C and the actual maker will have to be some blokes in a French shed somewhere, all the better makers marked the movements. Not that it matters, there were no actual bad ones, just good and better.

As a matter of interest, normal auction prices locally for carriage clocks in working order are as follows.

Cylinder escapement timepiece ======= £60
Lever escapement timepice, replaced platform escapement, about the same.
Original lever escapement timeoiece, ===== £75
Gong striking clock,=========== £150
Bell striking clock (these are earlier)======== £200
Gong strike and hour repeating clock====== £250


These prices are for standard corniche cased examples, fancier cases and dials usually add to the price unless you get lucky, which happens now and again if you know what to look for.

Grand sonnerie striking and repeating clocks usually start around £800-£1000, these strike the hour and quarter every quarter hour and it is also possible to find variations on repeaters up to minute repeaters, at very high prices. The more extreme types were very expensive new and remain so.

A British made carriage clock with a miniature double fusee movement in a small wooden case would probably cost over £4000 if you could find one.

Prices of the basic types of carriage timepiece and clock have dropped about half in the last 20 years, as the casual buyer has almost vanished, but prices for clocks that appeal to the more serious collector have more or less stayed steady and prices for rarities have increased, sometimes substantially.

 

HOLY CAT PUPPIES!!!
>I have hunted all over Helsinki for my...timepiece!!! For almost a day!!! Including storage today...
>So just a few minutes ago I go out to feed Figgy the bunny, who has the balcony suite, and right there by her food...and other stuff on standby, is the clock in a box... Good Christmas Batman!!!
~
It's VERY similar and heavy! The face of CX's is blank but for the numbers and 20 minute marks. That's what struck me when I saw this when out saleing and then seeing hers.
This one's base is injured and can someone please show me what the top looks like? Whatever goes there is missing.
~
I will shoot it tomorrow morning or Sunday.

 

The top of a carriage clock will typically have a carrying-handle.

 

The handle is there, there's a cap or door missing.

 

Depending on the design, a carriage clock has anywhere from two to four to five glass panels on it. Usually on the front, the back door, both sides (to show off the movement, which is why I love them!), and then there's a fifth one up top, underneath the handle, to show off the escapement and regulator.

 

So as requested >>>>
~
While I was shooting it it started to function! In the super close up of the top you can see the movement was...well...moving, for it is blurry.
~
The weird thing...I can literally see the minute hand moving...
Holy H.G. Wells Batman!
Something is, quite apparently, awry. Wonder what that is about.
~
No visible markings.
~

 

That one has the original lever platform escapement but has lost the plate off the bottom. I can't see if it has the top glass or not.

 

Thank you!
The top is what I was wondering about last night. Seems now it was glass but is missing. The front glass is chipped at the the upper right corner.
I've no idea about a bottom plate.
Is that where the marking should've been?

 

Why are the minute hands advancing so fast?

 

Because there is a problem with the escapement, possibly one pallet jewel dropped out. The empty screw hole in the base is where a long screw held a blank plate that covered the screws holding the pillars in place. Never any marking there. They are often lost. The top glass has to be replaced from the inside of the dismantled case. First you have to get a piece of glass cut and the edge bevelled.

Clearly the escapement needs some attention too.

 

Thank you!
I'm guessing not much value at present though no plan to sell it at this time.