Return to Gallery of SOLD Clocks.
Clock No. 271 - Floor Standing Year Duration Precision Regulator with Jeweled Pallets and Temperature-Compensating Pendulum by Anton Harvelk, Wien. Clock No. 271 Purchase Price SOLD Weights 1 Length 96 inches Wall Stabilizers Original, massive w/locking nuts Case Condition 2 Winding Key Old Mechanism Clean and running Mechanism Mount Wooden seat board Beat Scale None Pendulum Brass filled with lead Signature Top   Clock 271 Base Dial Auxillary Dial Hanger Key   Mechanism - view 1 Mechanism - view 2 Mechanism - view 3 Pendulum - view 1 Pendulum - view 2     The case is about as special as can be, with features from a number of different periods. Note the lovely gothic arches to the base, a motif that is carried over to the sides of the base as well as the center section of the body. While very tastefully done, there is a surprising amount of carving to this case. If you are looking for a clock that makes a very strong statement, one that you will never see again, and one that is a technically phenomenal piece, this clock deserves consideration. Then there is the dial door -- the glass and its wooden bezel twist to unlatch from the case! Claterbos tells us that Anton Harvelk (Harwelk), in 1874, had a shop at number 29 Piaristengasse in Vienna. Claterbos also indicates that Anton made chronometers and astronomical clocks. The challenges associated with making precision timepieces obviously served him well when making this gorgeous year-running precision regulator. Precision Regulators are the epitome of mechanical timekeepers. Everything about them is built to last, and to be extremely reliable - achieving the target accuracy of mere seconds per month. The massive Austrian three-plate movement with 4.5 mm thick plates and a two-piece dial is clean (though the edges of the plates are fingerprinted) and running. It is unusual to see a three-plate mechanism: In this case it allows the primary train gears to have short, very strong arbors (working between the back two plates) while providing room for a wide winding drum (working between the front and back plates) as needed for a floor-standing clock with its long weight drop and thick weight cord. And, of course, as is appropriate for a precision regulator, this clock has jeweled pallets - lovely rubies! This clock has an 18 pound pendulum and a 21 pound weight. Note the heavy Rococo engraving to the dial center and exquisite detail to the subsidiary seconds dial: I suspect anything less ornate would be out of the question in a case that makes as strong of a statement as this one. Note too the stunning temperature-compensating bi-metallic pendulum rod, relying on the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion of steel and zinc to practically eliminate the impact of changes in temperature on the timekeeping abilities of this clock. Caveats: The case is missing minor bits of trim and could use cleaned/polished (hence the 2 case condition - though the original finish is in excellent condition), the hands could afford to be cleaned and re-blued, and the dials chapter ring needs a good cleaning/re-sealing.