Posted 14 years ago
sharkteeth
(1 item)
My grand father used to own this clock ever since i knew him. He use to tell me that after him, i will be the person to inherit this. I only have a vague memory of it because these words are coming from about 20 years back, Those days i was a little boy who was in my kindergarten. My grand father fell ill and passed on to a coma back in 2002 and after that he never recovered to his real state of mind. He passed away on 2006 July at the age of 74. During the time of his illness this clock was lost among the sands of time. He use to work for the company named "Whitall Bousted" as a "Clark" during his days. Those were the days that this island was still a British Governed Colony. He use to work under "English Gentlemen" which i do not remember the name. When the company was shifted, he received this "Set Thomas" clock as a gift from his boss. Since then he use to own it. During all his life this clock was there with him and there was a problem that could not be repaired, the problem is that time runs perfectly well but the hourly alarm automatically advances incorrectly because of a problem in a wheel. He could not get it repaired because even at that time this clock was already an antique and couldn't find parts to get it working right.
About four months back when i was cleaning up my parents house i came across a rotten box of wood. Ultimately this ended up being the clock that I've been looking for a long time but it was in a bad shape. I immediately taken it out and housing was completely destroyed by termites because it was made of wood. I carefully removed it's engine and other mechanical parts and manage to recover all it's metal parts. Then i manage to find a person who do repairs the antique clock but of course at a extremely high price. I thought it is my duty and honor to get this back in to shape. I taken the clock to clock-smith and after three months of hard work, He restored the good ol' Seth Thomas clock to it's original state. Even the irreparable wheel of hourly alarm is finally fixed. What you see in the picture is the "Seth Thomas" Clock that is resurrected from destroyed to original state. It hangs in my home wall now displaying perfect time and hourly alarms. I feel like i did what i should do.
Thanks everybody for reading
What a nice clock with a great story to follow it. Your grandfather would be proud!
Salutes Kfranks, thanks a lot for your comment. I put it up in my blog too, of course in different words. When i search google it's on top. Whoa lol. Just search as seth thomas sri lanka and third entry or maybe fourth in google will be my blog. Thanks again kfranks. :)
It made me nostalgic as the same model of this clock has been inheritted by me from my maternal grand father. I am resident of India. The clock is still in service. Few years back the mechanism of hourly alarm got problem. It cold not be rectified but the clock shows time accurately of course with minor adjustment in the length of pendulum as per the climatic conditions. Weekly once I use to load the spring.
I am proud to be the possessor of this antique piece. Please share my feelings and wish me good luck to continue association with the marvel.
Thank you for your comment vishwanath. Wish you all the best of luck, It's great to hear that another person has the same type of clock that i have and also he is from the neighboring country to me. Salute!
Awesome story! And oddly enough, very similar to my own: I received my Grandfather's Seth Thomas Grandfather clock after his passing as well. My beloved Grandpa was a civil engineer with the B.& O. Railroad and the clock was from his home office. The clock is old - he too had it restored by a clock-smith before his passing at the age of 88, when I received it. Now it hangs in a prominent position in my home and not only tells the time but holds the precious stories and recollections of days gone by; all of which I pass on to my children, who will take possession of the clock when I'm gone.
I am from Bhubaneswar (India). I too have a similar schoolboy clock. It runs well and keeps time. As I could guess from its serial No, it was manufactured around 1893.