 |
 |
Large, 53mm 18ct case hallmarked for 1822. Case maker TH (Thomas Hardy). This watch incorporates one of the first attempts to produce a watch with keyless winding. John Roger Arnold was the son of the celebrated chronometer maker John Arnold and this winding system was developed by his foreman Thomas Prest. Ruby cylinder escapement with typical Arnold compensation curb on the regulator. Most unusually, the watch has a hanging barrel, i.e. no upper support bridge for the barrel arbour. No Prest winding Arnolds are recorded with this arrangement which was used to make the watch even slimmer than usual. John Roger was sent to France in 1792 to work with master watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet and this watch reflects some of his influence, notably the hanging barrel and use of a ruby cylinder. Although the watch could be wound using the winding button, the hands still had to be set by opening the bezel and moving them with your finger. Source: Vaudrey Mercer, John Arnold and Son. Antiquarian Horological Society, 1975 |
 |
American shelf clocks were made by the thousand in vast factories and sold all over the world at prices most people could afford. Because they were mass produced, worn parts could be replaced with new ones which were stocked by the agent. This clock was made by Ansonia around 1890 in a style known as ‘Steeple’ or ‘Sharp Gothic.’ The dial is made from printed card glued to a galvanised tin plate and the case is veneered softwood. The movement has been ‘skeletonised’ to save on the volume of brass need to make it, a practice followed by all the U.S. clock factories to keep costs down. Few shelf clocks cost more than 25 shillings, significantly less if the buyer opted for a plain rather than an ornamental case. All were assembled by unskilled labour on production lines, a practice which is said to have given Henry Ford the idea of making automobiles in the same way. This clock strikes the hours on a coiled steel gong and has an alarm which is set by the brass disc in the centre of the dial. |
 |
Although common, these clocks are of high quality. The majority were retailed by firms based in Paris and sold world wide. Later versions struck the hours on a coiled steel gong as with this clock. Before 1880 a small bell was more common. As with the cheaper American shelf clocks, a huge range of case styles were available. These ranged from an unadorned ‘tombstone’ to classical temples lavished with decoration. Polished black Belgian slate was used for the body of the case set off with varying degrees of coloured stone inlay. Such clocks cost around four pounds when new and were sold in jewellers’ and furnishing stores throughout the country. These are very much ‘drawing room’ or ‘parlour’ clocks and as such were a reflection of a growing middle class in late nineteenth and early twentieth century New Zealand. |
 |
Regency style clock cases were made well into Victoria’s reign and Parkinson & Frodsham was a well established firm, operating out of Change Alley for most of the 19th century. However the acroteria finials (the ‘ears’ on the top of the case) reflect a fascination with Egyptian styling which prevailed in the first few decades of the 19th century. The fusee timepiece movement is hand finished and would have been made in one of the many small workshops which supplied the London clock and watch trade. Similarly, the dial and hands would have been made by men specialising in this work and the finished clock then retailed by Parkinson and Frodsham. Clocks like this were not sold new in New Zealand. They were either brought by well off settlers or arrived with later immigrants. |
 |
These watches were made by the American Waltham Watch Company of Massachusetts at the turn of the twentieth century. They were simple, reliable and robust and were made in their thousands on a production line. The Traveller was the cheapest model in the Waltham range and cost around £3 - £4 in New Zealand. It used interchangeable parts, a boon to watchmakers who otherwise had to make a broken or worn component from scratch. Only the escapement pivots were jewelled, but Waltham also made higher grade watches with 19 and 21 jewel movements. The factory system introduced by Waltham and other US watch manufacturers spelt the end of England’s watch industry which largely relied on small workshops making the various components to produce an expensive, but not necessarily better product. |