And another Vienna regulator wall clock - the third wall clock I made. It is called a Laterndluhr, which was the original style of Vienna Regulator. Having made two Dachluhr cased ones, see my other posts, I of course wanted to make the ultimate Vienna regulator - a Laterndluhr, or 9 light wall clock.
The opportunity arose as a wedding present for my niece.
My Laterndluhr is made from some amazing solid fiddle back Jarrah, with contrasting maple stringing. It makes the frames look as if they have been cross banded - they haven't!!!!
The back board, plinth and hood roof are veneered with Vavona.. The three box case has nine glazed half jointed panels, three of which are doors.
A photo-shopped picture taken at one of our Wood Shows where it won first prize in the Miscellaneous category.
The case has two typical 'steady screws' at the bottom to help fix its position on the wall. Other typical features are the small concave wooden mouldings on the top and bottom of the trunk, and the six small maple stringing's on the trunk door.
The hood with its architectural style top has a hinged door, while the trunk and pendulum doors lift up and then out. They are held in place by brass pegs, similar to the original clocks. The whole hood can also be removed by sliding it forward as on the originals, to provide access to the movement.
The movement in my clock is Hermle's 241 870, which comes complete with a 200mmm dial incorporating three subsidiary dials - the 'complications' mentioned below. It strikes the half hour and hours on a coiled gong. It is powered by two brass covered lead weights.
My wife and I delivered the clock to South Africa when we went for my nieces wedding! The clock case was carefully packaged and went on the plane as checked-in luggage. However the lead weights were another thing weighing around 5 kg a piece! So, we took one each in our carry-on bags. While my wife got through security OK, I didn't ......... but that's another story
When I made the clock in 2009 the asking price for an original antique Laterndluhr, with 'complications', was in the region of US$39,000 - US$49,000.
If you have very deep pockets, or want inspiration for your next wall clock project, check out the superb range of examples on this specialist web site https://www.qualityantiqueclocks.com/viennese-antique-clocks/
A little history: Laterndluhr were amongst the finest clocks ever produced, both in the delicacy of their cases and the precision of their movements. The finest were made over a short period of time between c.1800 to c.1845. The term 'Vienna regulator' usually refers to a weight driven precision wall clock. There were two main early types. The Laterndluhr, or lantern clock has a large top and bottom case with a slimmer middle section. The Dachluhr, or roof top clock, typically has an architectural top and a single-section case. Both styles have glazed doors and side panels - the Laterndluhr is often called a nine light, while the Dachluhr is a six light. Another floor standing style was also made but in very small numbers. The extra length of these cases gave a longer drop for the weights enabling them to run for up to a year on one winding.
After about 1845 the classic restrained style degenerated into fussy, and over decorated cases. First came the Biedermeier style with carved pediments and pedestals, followed by the over decorated factory-made imitations by German makers. This over decorated style continued with more and more carving to the cases and endless turned finials. They were mass produced by German and American manufacturers right through to the early 1900's.
The original Laterndluhr and Dachluhr cases were usually of pine veneered in mahogany, often with a contrasting lighter wood used for stringing the frames. Walnut and ash veneer was sometimes used, and there are some examples with ebonized fruit wood cases. All were made in relatively small numbers in or around Vienna in Austria, or in other cities of the Austrian Empire, including Budapest. Most run for 8 days, though some of the finer examples run for 6 months or even a year.
The rarest and most sought after of the original Laterndluhr's, were those with 'complications', so called because they had a number of subsidiary dials. These would show day of the week, date, and month, and occasionally seconds. See mine above!
Wow, those are some spendy clocks, never would have guessed they would cost that much. A beautiful build, I likw seeing the movements on these clocks. Well done.
Thanks all. And yes Steve, its certainly my favourite amongst the wall clocks. I've I couple more smaller ones to post before I put the rest of the mantle/bracket clocks on.
