Skip to content
The Encyclopedia of Horology

Movement record · United Kingdom

Synchronome master clock movement

Partially verified

Electrically rewound impulse master clock

Technical specifications

Diameter
Precision clock movement; dimensions vary
Height
Not recorded in the sources consulted
Jewels
Jewelled at the impulse contact in better examples
Frequency
Half-minute impulse
Power reserve
Continuous while powered
Winding
Mains or battery electric
Setting
Hand set
Escapement
Gravity impulse with electrical rewinding
Balance
Long pendulum
Complications
Slave dial driving, Time distribution

Identification features

  • Half-minute impulse action and slave dial circuits
  • Synchronome nameplate

Known variants

  • Shortt-Synchronome free-pendulum system

Servicing notes

Cleaning, lubrication, mainspring and pivot work belong with a qualified watchmaker working from calibre-specific documentation. Conserve original parts: replacing a worn component with a modern substitute changes the object, and refinishing plates or dials destroys evidence.

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

Historical significance

The basis of widely used electric time distribution, and of the free-pendulum system that set precision standards before quartz.

Diagram

top plate or bridgespillar platebalance and cockwheel train between the plates
Schematic: plate and bridge layout. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. de Carle, D., Watch and Clock Encyclopedia
  2. Period trade material catalogues and calibre reference compilations (edition-dependent)
  3. Published manufacturer technical documentation where available

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