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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Clock type · Precision

Year-Going Clocks

Partially verified

Clocks running for a year or more on a single winding.

Movement & mechanism

  • Very large going barrels or long weight drops with multiple pulleys
  • Additional train wheels to extend duration
  • Maintaining power so the clock is not stopped while winding

Identification

  • Unusually large barrels or heavy weights with compound pulleys
  • Extra wheels in the going train
  • Claims of year-going duration should be verified against the train count

Terminology

  • Going barrel
  • Maintaining power
  • Duration

Known variations

  • Month, three-month and year-going versions

Collecting notes

Originality decides value and interest: check that movement, dial and case belong together, and prefer honest wear over refinishing. Movement work belongs with a clockmaker; cleaning a dial or case yourself commonly destroys the evidence that dates the clock.

Related photographs

Longcase clock
Longcase clock — AKS.9955, 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., reference works on British clockmakers (edition-dependent)
  3. Museum catalogue descriptions of comparable examples

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