Posted 14 years ago
bigben
(72 items)
The “Verdi” drop octagon wall clock was made from 1877 to 1893. From 1877 to 1885 it was made with a Welch, Spring and Company label; after that it had an E. N. Welch Manufacturing Company label. The case is rosewood veneered, 31 inches long, 12 inch dial (11 inch minute track).
This example has an 8-day time only movement driven by two mainsprings. The mainsprings are the original thick, roughly finished springs. They are in good condition and provide plenty of power to operate the clock. They are narrower than standard 8-day mainsprings, only 3/8 inch wide. They are quite thick, 0.022 inch.
The escapement is a club tooth deadbeat (or semi-deadbeat, as there is slight recoil during locking). The escapement was patented by B. B. Lewis on August 31, 1870, patent number 106,843.
That is a very nice clock. I did not know that BB Lewis made complete movements. I ahve an LF and WW Carter double dial calendar clock, and the calendar mechanism was made (or at least designed and patented) by BB Lewis. My calendar clock, though valuable to me because I inherited it, and because it is the first clock I ever disassembled and cleaned, is not a terribly rare or exceptionally valuable clock, as calendar clocks go.
BB Lewis worked for Welch, Spring and Company for a while and did design work for them. I hope to have a B B Lewis type double dial calendar someday - there is one in my family that was saved from the Chicago fire. My uncle has it.