An odd desk clock with inkwells

We are starting off with an oddball.  It's like a carriage clock, mounted as a desk piece with inkwells.  Moser isn't a big name, it won't get a premium for that.  Despite the carriage clock similarity, it doesn't have a platform mounted balance.  It's just a weird one all the way around, and the collectors may go for that.  A dark horse in the race.

Representing England:

A later Birmingham longcase clock

England represents a safe bet.  It is a good late longcase clock in an oak case.  It has a painted dial, with an obscured (scrubbed off) signature, from Birmingham.  Here's the deal: Late clocks go for less than early ones, oak cases go for less than mahogany, and painted dials go for less than brass ones. On the good side, it has really nice proportions, and it's 20  years earlier than the lister gives it credit for.  I'd place it at 1830.

Representing the United States:

A good Connecticut 8 day looking glass clock.

This is a mid-19th century Connecticut 8 day looking glass clock.  The important thing in this genre is labels and tablets.  The paper labels glued on the inside of the case weren't printed on acid-free paper, and wood is slightly acidic. They will all be gone in a few generations, and collectors give a premium for good labels.  The tablet is the reverse-painted-on-glass decoration below the mirror.
Both of these seem good. It has an 8 day WOOD movement which is incredibly rare.  Most wooden-works clocks were 30 hours. There's a reason for that: the driving force of an eight day weight wrecks havoc on flimsy wood gears. It's telling that the vendor doesn't show the movement. The maker is obscure, which is a plus in this market.  Could go through the roof. As for me: I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

Representing Poland (actually Silesia):

A Gustaf Becker wall timepiece

OK, I'm cheating to get another country in. Silesia was a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and Becker wouldn't have considered himself Polish. All the same, that's where it is after the big 20th century eastern European shuffle. This is a nice, but standard, striking wall clock of the sort we call R-A's after the mark on the enamel pendulum center.  It has a good enamel dial, and the fret is good if original - not all are.

Representing Japan:

An early 20th century Japanese schoolhouse clock

By the early 20th century, Connecticut was the undisputed king of the commercial clock world. They had achieved this through a headlong rush for the bottom. This, of course, is not a game you can win, and here's a sign, from Japan, that the world was getting ready to eat their lunch. This is a Japanese reproduction of a CT schoolhouse clock, from 1900, time and strike, 8 days, paper dial. Not at all rare.  It may not get even a bid at 120 usd. We shall see.

Representing Switzerland:

A mid 20th century Atmos clock by LeCoultre

People not in the know, think that Switzerland has something to do with clocks.  They even persist in thinking that the cuckoo clock is a typical Swiss item. There have always been Swiss clocks, of course, but they are not much seen outside Switzerland. The present example is an exception. Invented in France, but long made by LeCoultre, the Atmos winds it's self by small changes in atmospheric temperature and pressure. Almost a perpetual motion machine. The one I've picked out is a good but standard example.

Representing Austria:

A nice seconds pendulum Vienna regulator with subsidiary seconds dial

OK, I know, two viennas. This one may actually have been made in Vienna. It's a timepiece, with a seconds pendulum and a separate dial for the seconds, showing that it had pretensions to accuracy.  It may well have maintaining power, as this class of viennas usually did.  The decorative cast bezel, rather than the spun sheet metal one on the Becker, Shows that it is a earlier, and higher quality piece. My guess is that it would need a signature to go crazy, but what do I know.

Representing Germany:

A nice late 19c Winterhalter chiming bracket clock

Speaking of getting one's lunch eaten, that was the position of Germany in the later 19th century, when Connecticut took over the world.  One of the things that they did was to turn their attention to the upper-end UK market.  This clock is known as a Winterhalter since some were made by that firm, and has a three train movement striking on gongs.  The Germans did gongs better than anyone in the world. This is a high style mahogany case and showy multi-piece dial with cast brass silvered dial surround.  German stuff isn't very big in the UK, where this is being sold, but it is very showy, and all you need is two bidders.

So, there's the race. Pick your winner and vote today. Voting closes with the end of the first auction, on Sunday, 8:46 pacific (ebay time). Have fun, and for those in the States, have a happy Independence Day.

Next time: more 18th century clockmaking in other European countries.

Previously:

Monastic alarms and the beginnings of clockmaking
De Dondi's remarkable astrarium
Early tower clocks
Gothic iron clocks
Rennaisance clocks
Early english lantern clocks
Huygens and the pendulum
Fromanteel's English pendulum clocks
Huygens in Paris
Clement and the recoil escapement
Edward East and the golden age
Thomas Tompion
Daniel Quare
Joseph Knibb
Golden age recap
The balance spring
Paris - Louis Quatorze
Paris - La Regence
Graham - Compensation
18th century in the Netherlands
18th century in the Germany
Ellicott and 18th century England