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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Movement record · France

French round (Paris) clock movement

Verified

Two circular brass plates carrying the going and striking trains in a compact drum, made as a standardised unit by specialist movement factories in Paris and the Franche-Comté and sold to case makers across Europe.

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Technical specifications

Diameter
Typically around 80 to 100 mm across the round plates
Height
Shallow drum-shaped assembly
Jewels
Generally unjewelled; some better movements jewelled at the escapement
Frequency
Pendulum-regulated; rate depends on pendulum length rather than a vibration figure
Power reserve
Eight-day run between windings on most examples
Winding
Key wind through the dial or back
Setting
Hands set by key or by hand at the dial
Escapement
Brocot or plain deadbeat; recoil on cheaper work
Balance
Pendulum, frequently with a Brocot suspension for rate adjustment from the dial
Complications
Hour and half-hour striking on a bell or gong, Rack or count-wheel striking depending on date

Identification features

  • Round plates with a maker's or exhibition-medal stamp on the back plate
  • Brocot adjustment square visible on the dial above the numeral twelve on many examples
  • Case and movement are frequently by different makers, so both must be recorded separately

Known variants

  • Count-wheel striking
  • Rack striking
  • Movements with visible Brocot escapement at the dial centre

Servicing notes

Mainsprings in these movements store substantial energy and must be let down and handled with a proper mainspring winder; this is a common cause of serious injury to inexperienced repairers.

General guidance only. Antique movements should be serviced by a qualified watchmaker.

Historical significance

The standardised movement that allowed France to dominate the nineteenth-century decorative clock trade, and the reason so many surviving clocks share identical mechanisms behind entirely different cases.

Photographs

Clock-french-republic
Clock-french-republic — Cormullion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons file page
French table clock, V&A London
French table clock, V&A London — 14GTR, CC0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Old French Clock Tower with Roman Numerals
Old French Clock Tower with Roman Numerals — Kojax496, CC0. 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. Exhibition medal stamps on back plates record awards rather than dates of manufacture.
  2. Museum and auction catalogue descriptions of French drum movements

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