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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Freiburg in Silesia (Świebodzice), Germany (formerly Silesia, now Poland)

Gustav Becker

Verified

Wall, regulator and mantel clock movements

History

Becker built one of the largest German clock factories of the nineteenth century, supplying Vienna-style wall regulators and mantel clocks across Europe before the business was taken into Junghans.

Major innovations

  • Industrial production of Vienna-pattern regulator movements

Known markings

  • Anchor with 'GB' trademark
  • Exhibition medal marks
  • Serial number stamped on the back plate

Serial numbers

Movements carry serial numbers with published approximate ranges by year; the medal-and-anchor trademark also helps bracket the date.

Collecting significance

Common enough to be an accessible entry into German clockmaking; early, finer examples are considerably better made than late production.

Photographs

Gustav Becker clock in UM Poznan (2)
Gustav Becker clock in UM Poznan (2) — MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Gustav Becker clock in UM Poznan (1)
Gustav Becker clock in UM Poznan (1) — MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Standuhr Gustav Becker
Standuhr Gustav Becker — Mabit1, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page

Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.

Sources & references

  1. Published Gustav Becker serial number tables in collector literature
  2. Serial tables give approximate ranges rather than exact dates.

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