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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Clock type · Domestic

Early Domestic Alarm Clocks

Partially verified

Clocks primarily intended to sound an alarm at a preset time, often small and wall-mounted.

Movement & mechanism

  • Weight- or spring-driven
  • Alarm train triggered by a pin on the hour wheel
  • Short pendulum or verge balance

Identification

  • Small scale compared to standard wall clocks
  • Central alarm-setting disc on the dial
  • Loud, simple bell mechanism

Terminology

  • Alarum
  • Post-and-panel
  • Setting disc

Known variations

  • Lantern-style and Black Forest wood-frame versions

Collecting notes

Condition and originality are paramount. For technical clocks like regulators or atmospheric clocks, the completeness of the original mechanism is more important than case condition. For decorative clocks (Boulle, Empire), the quality of the case craft is central.

Related photographs

Wall clock in the Chambord Castle
Wall clock in the Chambord Castle — Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Wooden wall clock with massive brass weights DSG5426-1 - 2020-04-25
Wooden wall clock with massive brass weights DSG5426-1 - 2020-04-25 — Franz van Duns, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
  2. Loomes, B., The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain
  3. Roberts, D., British Skeleton Clocks
  4. Museum catalogue records

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.