All you wanted to know about grandfather clocks
It’s no wonder many discerning folks are avid collectors of antique grandfather clocks!
Also known as long case clocks or floor clocks, they are freestanding clocks around 6 to 8 feet tall with a swinging pendulum in a tower. The older clocks are made of high quality wood with ornate carvings on it. The typical grandfather clock is a striking clock, although non-striking ones also exist.
Most period long case clocks are made of oak, pine, mahogany or walnut. Most are either 30 hour clocks or 8 day clocks, which represents the length of time they can go without being rewound. There are also less common clocks that go for one month all the way to 12 months!
A 30 hour clock is usually wound by a chain or a rope, not a key. An 8 day clock generally has two winding holes built into the dial and is wound using a key. A 30 hour clock is generally cheaper than the 8 day clock.
You’ll sometimes find 30 hour clocks that also have two dummy winding holes in its dial -- the sole purpose is to make everyone think it’s an 8 day clock and therefore more expensive than it actually is!
Did you know that some of the early clocks did not have a dial from which you could read time -- instead, they were striking clocks. In fact, the main reason why clocks have a 12 hour face today is because striking clocks were designed that way. It was rather inconvenient to have a clock that stuck 24 times at midnight -- that many strokes were difficult to count and tended to go on an on at an hour when everyone was asleep!
Check out the other articles on this site for more information on grandfather clocks, both antique and modern.
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History of the pendulum clock How grandfather clocks work | Setting up a grandfather clock |
History of the pendulum clock
How grandfather clocks work
Setting up a grandfather clock
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