Yes, yet another clock!!!  I mentioned in the write-up about the last clock I posted - A French Australian long case clock - a tale of two clocks, that I had purchased two old French Comtoise clock movements from an antique shop in Western Australia. These old movments are quite common as being built like 'battleships' they have survived the test of time while their original simple pine carpenter made cases have long since rotted away. 

 

So, this case was made to house the first of the antique movements that restored.  

 

The movement is from around 1840/55 and has an unusual one piece pressed brass dial or Fronton.  It shows what looks like a farm-hand getting drunk while swigging back a couple of jugs of wine! 

 

 

 

It was great fun restoring both clock movements and getting them working again.  This first one lived in my garage/workshop fitted to a simple wall bracket gathering dust.
 

 
However, having convinced a friend that he needed a grandfather clock, I gave him the choice of the two movements I had restored.  He went for the second with its more usual clear white enamelled dial.  So, number one, this one, was left on its bracket in the workshop accumulating more and more dust, and getting affected by any draught every time you walked past it.  It had to go, or I had to find someone else who want a re-cased antique!!  I had no luck with a commission, and no luck trying to sell the restored movement on eBay.  So, as I was stuck for a project, I decided to make a ‘quick’ wall case for it. 

 

Now these movements where usually put in a 2.5 -3M / 8/9ft tall grandfather style case so that their weights could drop all the way to the floor and so keep it going for 7 days.  But a wall clock was going to restrict how far the weights could drop, and probably turn it into a 4 day clock – unless it had a very strange long case mounted high on the wall.  

I thought about using a pulley system for the weight,s which would halve the distance they dropped.  Hmm!! - but if you remember your basic school day physics this would also halve the 'applied' weight.  Now as the weights were already around 7kg/15lbs each I thought having 28kg/60lbs hanging on a few screws in the wall wasn’t really sensible!!  I therefore decided to leave the bottom of the case open so they could continue their fall to the floor.  However, the case would still long enough to protect the pendulum from draughts and interference. 

 

In their original long grandfather cases these clocks had plain rough cast-iron weights and a simple folding pendulum.  I had to make some new weights for both movments and source reproduction folding pendulums  as part of their restoration as they had long since disappeared.  So, as these 'new'  weights and pendulum would now be seen in a glass fornted  wall case I decided to make the folding pendulum into wooden one, and find some brass weight shells to smarten things up.

 

Enough of the that. 

Living in Jarrahdale Western Australia I decided to us the local Jarrah as I had plenty around the workshop.  I came up with a few designs based on old Vienna regulators, and in consultation with my design consultant – i.e. my wife, she suggested that the round hood looked best.   

 
Alas too late, I realised it was the hardest one to make with all its curves. 

 

The design is usually called a nine-light wall clock – nine pieces of glass, 3 in the hood and 6 in the trunk.  The trunk and hood frames are made from Jarrah enhanced with white Tasmanian oak stringing.
 

 The back panel of the trunk is book-match cherry with more tassie oak string boardered by jarrah cross-banding. 

 

The trunk door opens to adjust the pendulum. 

 

       

 

The hood and its door are a separate assemblies which slide onto the truck.  It is then screwed to the back board which extends the whole length of the clock.
     

 The hood also has a removable curved top, to enable the bell to be adjusted without taking off the whole hood assembly.

 

It’s a BIG wall clock at 1.4M / 4.5ft. from top to toe.  It’s currently for sale at a local gallery. Though this created its own problem as being a listed building there was no way I was going to be allowed to screw it to the wall!!!  However each room in the gallery has a substantial picture frame, so I made up some steel hangers that fix into the back of the clock enabling it to be hung from the picture rail!  Not ideal and susceptible to knocks – but its worked.

 As ever thank you for looking. 

August 2025 - 'm pleased to add that this unique wall clock quickly found a buyer, and I've just fixed in its new home!  I'm so pleased that this 140+ year old French clock movement now has a new lease of life.  Will it last another 140years which will take it to 2165!!