Read it

© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
1887). In the upraised hand of
this 5?-inch broaze figure is a
pendulum silently actuated by a
balance pin projecting from the
onyx base. By peering through
the clock's face, the visitor may
observe the intricate movement of
watchmaker E. Farcot.
After the sale of Mr. La,,mbert's
alt
works in 1925, the clock . . .
was acquired by the United States
Trust Company and placed
on
display in the bank's Paterson offiee. The much traveled clock was
donated to the Society in April
1955 by the First National Bank
and Trust Company, successot to
the United States Trust,l7
According to Tardy's Di,ct'ionnnilre
des Horlogers Francais, E. Farcot,
whosc name appears on the movefineut
of this clock, worked in Paris on Rue
des Trois Bornes from 1860 to 1890;
he received patents on conical pendulums in 1865 and 1872, and exhibited
with statues holding conical
in London in 1862 and in
Paris in 1867. The clock described
clocks
pendulums
above must have been among his 1867
exhibits.
As production of French
conical
pendulum clocks increased, a variety
of designs appeared, but the most
popular was still that of a marble or
onyx mantel clock on which stood a
cast metal figurr of a rvoman holdirg
the pendulum (Figures 17-20). The
in Figure 21 still has the
female figure, but its operatiol is
quite different, The hearSr suspended
brass bob in the center remains staclock shown
tionarry while the rotating spindle arm
at the top of the movement swings the
large clock ball containing the move-
ment around it. The movement is
stamped GLT, probably GuiLmeT, a
Parisian clockmaker of the late 1860's
to 1880's, known chiefly for his mystery clocks.
Fig.or:e 22 illustrates
a
completely
different, design, and Figure 23 shows
an unusual moilel ia tripod fo.rm, with
Ieveling screws in the legs. The two
alarm clocks in Figures 24 and, 25,
each with a pendulum 2% inches long,
have the same movement, which conforms to drawings in French patent
Fig. l6 Corfu clock ol [ombert Costle,
tlockensock, N. J. Heigh+ I3' 6" (Possoic
Counly Historicol Socieiyl
No, 65992, issued January 26, 1865 to
113
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Technical Notes on
Conical Pendulum Clotks
During the centuries that scientists
and clockmakers have experimented
with the principle of the conical pendulum, many efforts have been made
to improve its functioning. Bassermann-Jordan says about Boedecker's
rotating star on the sixteenth century
Osnabruck cathedral clock:
The only opinion rve can get
from the contemporary description is that there was some frictional effect of the air on the
rotating star. If the radius rema.ins constant, then the star
works like a fly in a striking
train or the systems used to enable telescopes to follow the motions of stars; in both cases
reasonably constartt Periods of
revolution can be maintained
which -is
though not for long
- used as
why these flies are still
regulators today.
Fi9. l7 French conicql pendulum clock.
Figure, on morble bose, holds vose in right
hond.36"
high
E. Farcot, the sa"Irre maker v-ho produced the mov€ment of the "Corfu"
clock. The pat€nt drawings show the
in both horizoatal and vertical positions, as illustrated in these
clocks. Their trademarks, an anchor
on a shield rr,.ith a star above and the
letters FOT-BTE probably r€present
FarcOT-BreveTE (patentec).
One of the few German conical pendulum clocks is shown in Figure 26.
It was made by Gebr. Junghans of
Schramberg in the Black Forest, still
a well-knorvn manufacturer today,
who produced many intelesting novelty clocks in the years before World
movement
Fig.
War f.
l8
French conicol pendulum clock with
onyx ond morble bose. 25" high
IL4
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Fig- l9 French 30,doy conicol pendulum
(lock with cloisonne decorotion on morDte
bose ond silverploied bross figure. Universdl
suspension unir hos four springs.42" high
Of the many experimental models
made, he says:
In practice (they) were unable
to orzercome the insidious difficulties arising from friction on thc
bearings, pivots, etc. The suspension of cenical pendulums, their
bearings and drive are complicated, owing to their three.dimensional motion. The large, irregular
Fig. 20 French conicol pendulum clock.
Figure, on morble bose, holds mirror in righf
hond.43" high
aad unpredictable variations in
LL5
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Fig.2lo unusuol French conicol pendulum
clock, The clock boll swings oround the suspended bross bc,b.
28tL" high (Emily E.
Fig 2l b Close'up o{ clock boll from Figure
Sleohenson Collectionl
the pendulum could not at that
time be understood, and these,
as
the installations grew otrder, exceeded its means of correction. On
these grounds this tSpe of regula-
tion has never been very successful, in spite of several very clever
att€mpts.18
Britten says of Boedecker's clock:
of
This had two alternative forms
escapement which could be en-
gaged at
will:
21d
one was a normal
verge and foliot and the other a
conical pendulum. The latter is a
principle no more than a fly and
involves no escapement wh'atever.
Its claims to be a tiu.ekeeper rely
on the pendulum being attached at
its upper end to a vertical, revolving arbor driven by the train.
The pendulum is thus swung in a
circular path and its free end will
tend to fly outwards as the speed
increases. The furt'her outward
the pendulum is swung the more
power is needed, and it was thus
hoped that some measure
of
iso-
chronism would be obta-ined. In
fact, all efforts to apply a. conical
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Fig.22
tuench conicol pendulum clock un,
der gloss dome. 15" high
pendulum to timekeepers have
proved abortive but Boedecker
nevertheless made
an important
invention. Had he applied both
escapements so as to act sinultaneously, he might well have improved on the timekeeping of the
verge and foliot alone.lo
It is
astonishing that these stat€-
by two eminent authorities
should appear in recently published
ments
editions, revised a.nd updated by o,utstanding horological historians (Basserrmann-Jord,an by Ha,ns von Bertele,
Britten by Cecil Clutton). Granted
that there were few examples of clocks
with conical p€ndulums available for
close examination before the last part
of the nineteonth century, wlen the
original editions of the two books appeared, one would expect that the editors of the revised editions would
have noted that the authors' conments
had been refuted by the reliability and
accuracy of the many conical pendulum clocks made in France after 1850,
whose pendulums are propelled into
rotary motion from the bottom rather
than from the top. Many of them keep
time by better than a half-minute
Fig. 23 French conicol pendulum clock on
tripod leveling feet. 18" high
a
He also thought that the best way to
keep such a pendulum in rotation was
and
to actuate it frorn the bottom
- We
time has proved that he was right.
kaow that a few conical pendulu-e
clocks using this principle were being
week.
In
1855, John
that a
C. Briggs
beLieved
conica"l l4ndulum was, to quote
his patent, "a aew and Improved Mode
of Regulating Clocks and Timepieces."
TLT
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
By this ai'rangement the operation of the clock is noiseless. It
does not tick. There is no reciprrocating motion. The friction of the
ordinary crutch is avoided, a.nd
when the wheels stop, from some
Iittle catch, or sticking, the momentum of the pendulum in going
around will carry the wheels with
it and start them again of itself.
It is therefore less liable to stoo
than other clocks.
Briggs was on the right track about
ticking, but his enthusiasm carried
him away on the subjecb of stopping,
as Abiel Chandler was to demonstrate.
When attempts were made to make
a working clock, the pendulum apparently described too large a circle and
Fag.
clock.
24
French conicol pendulum dlorm
21h" pendulum. 6"
made
high
at about the same time in
Europe; Briggs' claim to fame is that
he is the first person to introduce the
idea into the United States.
Again, to quote from his patent:
The nature of my invention
consists in causing the pendulums
of clocks to oscillate in circles. or
ellipses,'the motion being kept up
by spindles coming up from
below. . .
.
?his is rather confusingly expr.essed;
what Briggs meant is that, in his invm.tion, the clock's pendulum will
move in circles or ellipses, its motion
provided by a spindle, to quote the
patent, "attadled to, or a proloagation
of, the vertical sha,ft of the last or
fastest wheel of the gearing of the
clock. . . ." The gearing was, of, course,
to be below the pendulum.
In addition to a new kind of pendu-
Fig, 25 French conrcol pendulum olorm
clock. 2t/2" pendulum.7" high, The movement of this clock ond of ihoi shown in Fig.
ure 24 conform to o potent gronted to E. For-
lum, Briggs foresaw othe,r advantages,
as outlined in his patent specifications:
cot in 1865
118
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
The "friction" was to be applied by a
wire tllat engaged the bottom of the
pendulum when its rotation became
too great, thus confining the pendulum within the required circle. At
other times, the wire was to be at rest.
All
clocks
of both Welch
rnodels
origina,lly had this friction wir.e. Quot-
ing again from the second patent:
Whcre the maintaining Power
is applied at the bottom of the
pendulum, as in the model previously patented by me, the arbor
of bhe fastest pinion would come
up through the cent€r of friction
weight C, ., and the driving arm
[i.e., spindle ar:rn] would be on the
top of the arbor entirely above ttre
friction afln. . ..
"Weight C," is a small brass collar,
in diameter and.19 inch high,
slightly crolvned, that rests on th€ top
plate of the movemeat but is not attached to it; it surrounds the spindle
.3 inch
arbor. These v/eights are found on
every Welch clock unless they have
beea lost or discarded. When they are
of them still have the
of the "friction arrn" wire
present, rnost
remains
wound around a groove in the weight.
The u'ire originally curved outward
and upward to touch the pin at the
bottom of the pendulum ball when the
pendulum was propelled in too wide a
circle. The friction generated as the
weight was pulled around the spindle
arbor slowed the pendulum so that it
returned to the prescribed cjrcle. In
practice, the wire had to be carefully
positioned to be effective ald, with repeated bendings, it broke off, usually
where it was attached to the weight,
and was aot replaced.
Fig. 26 Germon conicol pendulum clock
mode by Gebr. Junghons
lost contact with the spindle arm, as a
device to control the pendulum was the
subject to Briggs' second (1856)
patent:
There are great diffelences, from
one Welch clock to another, in the
amount of impulse given to the pendulum: some clocks do not need a restaainer. Others that do, anrd whose
friction wir.e has disappeared, will
The object of this invention is
to keep the pendulum describing,
as nearly as possible, a circle of,
a uniforrn diameter.
The nature of it (the invention) consists in applying more
propelling power than is necessary to keep the pendulum moving in the desired circle, and then
applying friction to counteract
often be found with a reverse bend at
the end of the spindle arrn to contain
the pendulum to its pnescribed circle.
The spindle arms were probarbly bent
by repairmen over the years, as no
two seem to be bent in the same way.
Actually, a bend in the spindle arm is
more practical than the friction trire
the excess of the prop€lling power
and pr€vent the pendulum from
ma^king a circle larger tha:n the
one desired.
119
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Fig.27
Welch Model
and functionally is not unlike the
slott€d arm used on Kroeber and
I
ports
not clear. The entire whe€l and pinion
train was redesigned in the second
model and is not interchangeable with
French conical pendulum clocks.
The two Welch models appear rery
much alike, with one major exception.
In Model II, the pendulum regulating
nut has been transferred to the very
top of the pendulum arm from its po-
that of the first, although the
gear
ratios remain the same.
Other changes appea.ring in Model
II reflect production economi€s, such
as the turned pillars, or strrrctural improYements, such as the larger key
squaTe and strong€r key. For more inforrnation about the differences between the two versions, see Figrues 6,
sition directiy over the spindle in
I. The reason for this change,
which inyolves an extrra hole in the
Model
bracket for the cord to run through, is
Fig. 28 Welch Model
720
ll
ports
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
The Kroeber Noiseless Rotary differs substantially from Weldt cloeks.
Excerpts from Blakes'ley's pat€nt
for "nevr and
specifications
useful Improvements in Rotary-Pendulum Clocks" explain some of the
differences:
Heretofore rotary - tr)endulum
clocks have been constructed in
such a manner th,at the Pendulum
opetates as the sole regulator for:
the train of gearing, and to
complish
this lesult the
ac-
Pinion
r'r'hich actuates the Pendulum bY
means of the arm attached thercto
must be moved at a very high rate
of speed . . . the movement is arranged in a horizontal position,
Fig. 29 Movement of French conicdl pendulum clock whose cose design Welch copied.
See Figures 7o ond 7b
with the pendulum located
over
the same, thus requiring considerable space, and al,so necessitating
27 and 28. Both models have 3O-hour
movements.
a particular form of clock-case to
cover the movement.
of
My invention consists .
the combination, with a crown
Many collectors have speculated as
to whether an eight-day Welch Rotary
Was evel made and word has circulated that at least one has been known
to exist. This is true. Many years ago
Edward Ingraham owned an eight-day
rotary pendulum clock, which he sent
to Jesse Coleman for examination.
Photographs of this clock, with wheel
counts and other data, appcar in Mr.
wheel,
of a worrn located .Parallel
with the frame of the clock-movement . . . [to] imPart z rotary
movement to the pendulum bY
means of an arm attached to the
upper end of the worryh shaft . . .
a lower rate of revolution of the
pendulum will insure equally as
Coleman's August 1946 Amet ican
Ho,r'oloytst and, Jeweler arlicle. The
whereabouts of the clock are unknown
good results
the movement
today. According to Mr. Coleman,
"The Iagraham piece is the only
eight-day one I've seen or heard of . . .
I'm inclined to think it was just an
experimental model, altered by hand
ald never entered into regular
Production."2o
When ttre Freach clock whose design
the Welch "Rotary" copies is examined
closely, there are ma,ny diffelences bet$'een its construction and that of the
Welch models, In general, the Fr.ench
clock is more primitive. ft has a completely different movement, with thaee
plates rather than two; the main-
spring is wider and the pinions are
solid, Instead of the Welch clocks' attached key, there is a wooden pulley
and cord for winding (Figures 29 and
30). It has a larg€r dial and hands
tllan the Welch clocks and the bases
have wooden bun feot.
Fig. 30 Bose movement shown in Frgure
29, showing winding pulley dnd
tzl
cord
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
may be plared in a vertical position, the saJne as the movernents
of ordinary peadulurn clocks, and
thus render the finished clock of
form as is possible,
adapted for the ordinary form of case. . . .
Other advantages of his invention
outlined in the patent specifications
are simple and economical constluction, durability in operation, smaller
initial cost, "as a comparatively slow
motion is amply sufficient to impart
sufficient velocity to the pendulum,"
a,s compact
and render
it
easier adjustment, afrd "more equable
wear
of running parts of
trhe clock
than is the case when the parts of the
in the
ordinarl' flat clocks." The vertical
movement can be put in arr ordinary
case or t'flat-sided glass covers that
occupy little w.idth of space," and dust
ard dirt will not "lodge on the frarnes
clock axe supported on end, as
Fig.
3l
Movement
Pendulum Clock shown
of the Briggs
Rotory
in Figure 14. Note the
I -orbor wheel lroin
The Briggs Rotary Pendulum Clock
and collect around the pivots, as is the
case with rotary-pendulum clocks as
ordinadly constructed." The wording
of the specifications is highly competi-
(Figure 14), the Horolovar reproduc-
tion of E. N. Welch's Model II, is
made by a precision time recorder factory in Gerrnany. Its movement, shown
tive; its implied criticisms can refer
in Figure
31, has such features as a
irjckel-steel mainspring 17 feet long,
only to the Welch "Rotary."
The worrn gear is a radiaal depar-
solid pinions with highly
ture. Other changes are a "rod of
fancifui design," instead of a cord, to
leaves and an 8-arbor wheel
polished
train with
a gear ratio of 1:96,000. The spindle
suspend the pendulum ball, znd a loop
alTn is a thir, straight steel rod. No
hook or slot is needed to control the
on the spindle arm that both activates
the pendulum and controls its rotation,
All Kroeber f,otades have 8-day time
and strike movements and those I have
seen are excellent timekeepers.
arc of the pendulum; the tremendous
power of the heavy 8-day mainspring
is balanced by friction from the wheel
train, maintaining the speed of the
spindle at a rate that keeps t'he pendulum within its prescribed limits. The
motion is steady and, even with the
movement's unusually high gear ratio,
the clock's timekeeping is ercellent.
Marruf acturers' or distributors'names rarely appear on French
conica.l p€ndulum clocks. However, the
familiar lames of French movement
sranufacturers, such as Japn Marti,
Vincenti, often appear on the movement back plates. This is to be ex-
**
pected, as these makers were among
the principal producers of movements
in the late nineteenth century, and a
change of only three parts is necessary
to conv€rt a s,tandard pendulum movement to a conieal pen'dulum mov€ment: a contrate vrheel for the escape
whe€l, a pinioned spindle arbor for the
anchor, and the addition of some form
of bracket, usually with jeweled pivot
holes, to hold the spin le arbor in a
vertical position.
I
am indebted to many knowledge-
able collectors
for information and
help in assembling material for this
article. I am grateful to the dozens of
people who have given assistance or
answered my inquiries over the past
several years, and wish to thank particuiarly Charles S. Parsoas, Chris H.
Bailey and Helry L. Belmont. Both
the trate Edward Ingaham and the
late Jesse Coleman gave me invaluable
informatior
L22
a.nd encourogement.
© 1978 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
11. Ernst von BassermannJordan
and Hans von Bertele, The Book of
OId, Clocks and Watches, New York,
Footnotes
1. Charles S. Crossman, ,,A
Com-
plete History of Watch and Clockmak-
Crown Publishers, Inc., 1964, p. 159.
ing in America," The Jewelers, Circulur and Horologi,cal Reuieus, Apnl
L2. C. A. Cronmelin, Descripti.oe
Cutalog of the Hu,ggens Coltection,
Leiden, 1949, descriptions 103, 106,
1890, p. 23.
2. J. E. Coleman, ..The Briggs Rotary," Thn Ameriea,n Horologist and,
107, 10?b.
13. H. Alan Lloyd, The Collecto,t"s
Di,cfionarg of Clocks, London, Country
eueler, August 1946, p. 29.
3. Tnformation about Briggs and his
activities in Concord came from the
J
Life Limited, 1964, p. 109, p. 141.
14. Bassermann-Jordan, Fig. 355,
New H,ampshire Historical Society,
with the help of Charles S. Parsons.
p.
458.
15. Olaudius Saunier, Treatise on
Mod,ern Ho,rolog?, London, J. Triplin,
no date (c. 1877?), p. 80?.
Mr. Parsons also kindly allowed me to
draw on his extensive reseerch mat€-
rial concerning New Hampshire clockparticularly Major Timothy
- Chandlen Much
and Abiel
of this informatimr cal be found in Mr. parsons' Nerz' Hampslti,re Clocks & Clockmahi,ng, published by Adams Browa
Company, Exeter, New Hampshire,
16. Lloyd, Fig. 371, p. 141, illustrates
the Redier clock. We have met Redier
before, as the presumed maker of the
conical pendulum clock Welch copied.
G. H. Baillie, in Wutclymake'rs and
Clockmakere of the World, describes
him as "a.n eminent maker of clocks
and registering instruments." Saurier
discusses Ba.lliman and Redier and
their use of the conical pendulum in
makers
1976.
detail on pp. 807-8 of his T,reatise.
M. Joseph Rambal says in a section
titled "Le Pendule Conigue" in his
L'Ho oge, publisled in the 1880's,
that Balliman
5. Crossman, ibid.
6. Crossman, ibid.
_-7. Antiquarian Horology, Vol.
No.4, September 1960, p. 94.
ma.de a sperdalty
ical pendulum clocks and
examples of them
IIl,
rs on p,
in the
of con-
exhibited
of
e>rposition
1855. Rambal also says that Redier
published a booklet in 1860 entitled
"Memoire sur le pendule conique et
sur de nouveaux instruments chronometriques auxquels il est applique."
L7. Gwid,e
51
to thz
Museum
of
the
Passuin Countg Histo't ical Soci,etlt at
Lambert Castle, by E. A. Smyk, Passaic County Historian, January 1974.
Story hy
19T8. Illus-
18. BassermanaJordan, pp.
159,
160.
19.Britten's
OLd. Clocks anil
Watches ond Their Makers, 8th edition, edited by Cecil Clutton, and the
slightly smaller, is g13.18.
10. From a letter from Mr. Ingra-
late G. H. Baillie and C. A. Ilbert,
London, Eyre Methuen, 1973, p. 67.
ham to J. E. Coleman, Nove,rnber 1g62.
20. Coleman, pp. 31-2.
L23