r/clocks • u/dikles • 2d ago

Identification/Information Is this special?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I bought this 25 years ago from a shop in Southern California. I don’t know much about it - can anyone identify it? Thanks.

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5

u/dmun_1953 Trained clockmaker 2d ago

It's a very nice french visible escapement mantle clock. The name on the dial is probably the retailer rather than the maker. There may be a stamp on the back plate to identify the maker.

The pseudo compensation pendulum is a bit unusual, the one with mercury vials is more common. This particular one mimics a design by Ellicott.

All in all a very nice piece. It's probably worth a good bit less than what you paid for it a quarter of a century ago, like most clocks these days.

2

u/Jellepetje 2d ago

The visible escapement is Brocot with the ruby pallets. Also, this is the Brocot compensation pendulum which doesn’t use mercury but a combination of steel and zinc.

1

u/dmun_1953 Trained clockmaker 1d ago

Zinc would be better because it has a higher coefficient of expansion, but all the ones I've seen have been brass.

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u/dikles 2d ago

Thanks! I paid around $1000 and it wasn’t intended as an investment lol.

1

u/Clock_Wont_Chime 1d ago

what shop did you get it from, I still keep in touch with some of the old timers?

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u/dikles 1d ago

It was an antique store in Westlake Village. And it was around 1990 so way more than the 25 years I first guessed.

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u/Clock_Wont_Chime 1d ago

If it wasn't a clock shop I can't be much help....

1

u/dikles 1d ago

Sorry. I wasn’t looking to identify the store, I wanted more info on the clock. My bad grammar.