Clocktiques

 

 

The story is, my dad ‘acquired’ a ship’s clock off the Liberty Ship he came back on from Europe after WWII. Or, it may have come from an uncle who worked at the Newport News Shipyard also during WWII. Either way, it’s my dad’s clock and it came to me after he died.

Around 5 or 6 years ago I took it to a clock shop in Cary for cleaning and maintenance. It came back broken and has never worked since.

I subsequently took it to two other shops – no one was able to fix it. I also contacted two different shops on the internet. Neither was willing to fix it and both told me that replacement works were not available.

Then, searching on line, I found a shop called Clocktiques in Wake Forest. The reviews for Clocktiques were all raves.

The reviews are true.

I took the clock in and once I described what had happened – the owner said the main spring may be ‘gummed up’ due to the typical cleaning method - which is to soak the works in a solution in an ultrasonic cleaner. He explained that often the springs will react to the solution and old dirt and debris can also remain trapped and turned into a gunk instead of being cleaned out.

The correct way is to remove the spring and hand clean it.

Anyway, he took the clock and said he could certainly fix it and that it would be about 8 to 10 weeks (he has a LOT of work).

Got it back today.

Here’s what he did: The spring was corroded so it was replaced. Two tuning fork jewels had been replaced at some point in the past with the wrong size and shape jewels. And even those weren’t set in properly. They were glued in instead of being enameled in. Also, the main stem was broken – probably from the ultrasonic cleaning. The replacement stem was handmade as none were available.

It would have been far easier and cheaper to replace the works – but repairing the broken works was important to keep the clock fully original.

End result – completely cleaned, jewels replaced, rebalanced, mainspring and stem replaced.

He did NOT clean the face plate or repaint / enamel the numerals. He said that should NEVER be done as the faceplate, arms and case should be allowed to age and acquire a natural patina.

The clock is beautiful, back in its place on my living room wall, and running perfectly. I'm beyond thrilled.

If you have a rare, expensive, antique or clock of great sentimental value – Clocktiques is the only place to take it for repair and maintenance. It’s expensive – but worth penny.