Up and Running Again

Finding someone to repair an antique clock is a challenge to the point that a favorite antique clock in my small collection has not run for five years. It is a 1927 Seth Thomas mahogany camel-back with Westminster Chimes. The clockmaker I used the last time a clock needed to be serviced closed his part-time business due to debilitating migraine headaches.

Since then I have looked for another clockmaker in this area. The answer literally was just around the corner in the form of a retired watchmaker from a local jewelry store who now repairs clocks during the winter months. The camel-back needed a complete overhaul: he disassembled the movement, reworked bearings, polished pieces, reassembled the movement and oiled it. The clock is now back where it belongs, chiming out quarter-hour intervals and the respective hour.

When all of our clocks are running, ticking sounds echo throughout the house. Simultaneous hour strikes can drown out all other sounds (e.g., speech, stereo, TV). The new clockmaker now has a cuckoo clock we purchased in 1993 at the Black Forest Clock Factory in Hornberg, Germany that was overdue for oiling (and possibly other work).

The Seth Thomas Clock Company was truly American's clock company. To learn about the history of the company see <http://masterclockrepair.com/seththomas.html>.