What clock collecting actually involves

There are two halves. The hunt is an hour or two at estate sales, auctions, antique malls and collectors' marts, opening cases and reading labels. The rest happens at a table at home: identifying what you bought, setting it up so it runs, and winding it. Most collectible clocks are either 8-day (wound once a week) or 30-hour (wound every day), so a collection sets its own small routine. Many collectors pick a weekly winding day. You do not have to repair anything to collect. Plenty of people buy running clocks, pay a professional for a cleaning every several years, and never open a movement.

A wooden bracket clock with a white enamel dial, gilt mounts and a carrying handle, standing on a table — A wooden bracket clock with an enamel dial

A carved walnut wall clock with a white dial and a brass pendulum, hanging on a pale wall

Pick a kind of clock to start with

Four ways in, one to begin with

Mantel And Shelf ClocksThe classic first clock. American factories made them by the million, so they are cheap, well documented, and sit on any shelf.

Start here

At the next antique mall, open the back of every shelf clock and read the paper label glued inside. Write down the maker and model of the three you like most and look up their sold prices that evening.

Wall-Hung ClocksSchoolhouse clocks, regulators and cuckoo clocks. They keep good time and look great, but they are heavy and have to hang level from a wall stud.

Start here

Before you shop, find the studs on the wall where the clock will hang and measure the space. Then look for a clock that still has its pendulum and weights or key, since those are the parts that go missing.

Alarm And Travel ClocksSmall wind-up clocks that often cost under $20 and store in a drawer. A collection of thirty fits on one bookshelf.

Start here

Dig through the box of small clocks at a flea market and buy one wind-up alarm clock for a few dollars, choosing one with plain painted numbers rather than glow-in-the-dark ones. Wind it and see whether it runs for a full day.

Repair And ServicingBuying non-runners and bringing them back to life. It is the cheapest way to buy and the deepest part of the hobby, and it needs its own tools and real care around mainsprings.

Start here

Read a beginner repair book cover to cover and practice on a cheap, common, non-running movement before you put a tool to a clock you care about. Learn to let the mainsprings down first.

NAWCC Forums

Open a kind to see its first step. Wall-Hung Clocks adds hanging hardware to the kit and Repair And Servicing adds the repair tools. Mantel And Shelf Clocks and Alarm And Travel Clocks need nothing beyond the base kit.

If you are heading into repair

How to judge a clock before you buy

Find the maker

American clocks usually carry a paper label inside the case or on the back, and a name stamped into the brass of the movement. The two should match. A case from one clock fitted with the movement of another is called a marriage, and it is worth much less.

Count what is there

Pendulum, key, weights, glass, hands and the back door. Missing parts can be replaced, but each one is a cost and a bargaining point.

Ask to hear it run

Wind it a few turns, start the pendulum and listen for a full minute. An even tick-tock is a good sign. A limping tick or a stop within seconds means it needs setup at best and a service at worst.

Look at the dial

An original dial with honest wear beats a repainted one or a fresh paper replacement. Hairline cracks in an enamel dial are normal on old clocks.

Check the case

Original finish, even if dull, is what collectors want. Look for new screws, fresh glue and patches of bright wood that point to repairs.

Check for a battery

Many old cases have had the mechanical movement swapped for a quartz one. If there is no winding hole in the dial and no key, look closer.

A shop window crowded with ornate antique mantel clocks under gold drapes

Your first month, step by step

Tick these off as you go

Living with a mechanical clock

Wind to a firm stop

Turn the key smoothly until it will not go further, on the same day each week for an 8-day clock. You cannot overwind a healthy clock. One that is fully wound and will not run is dirty or worn, not overwound.

Set the time with the minute hand only, moving it forward.

On a striking clock, pause at each hour and half hour and let it finish striking before you go on.

Level it, then listen

A pendulum clock runs only when it is in beat, meaning the tick and the tock are evenly spaced. Moving a clock to a new shelf usually means setting this again.

Take the pendulum off before you move a clock, even across the room.

A swinging pendulum can break the thin spring it hangs from.

Keep clocks away from radiators, fireplaces that are in use, direct sun and damp outside walls.

Heat dries the oil and swings in humidity crack veneer.

Plan on a professional cleaning and oiling every five to ten years for a clock that runs all the time.

Running a dry movement wears out the pivot holes.

Close-up of an engraved brass clock dial with Roman numerals and pierced steel hands — An engraved brass dial and its steel hands

What trips beginners up

Expect most old clocks to be worth less than you think. Factories made millions, and age alone does not create value. Maker, model, originality and condition do.
Expect a clock sold as running to stop when you get it home. Nine times out of ten it is not level or not in beat, and five minutes of adjustment fixes it.
Expect repair to cost more than the clock. A full professional service often runs $200 to $400, so price a non-runner as if that bill is coming.
Stop spraying oil into movements. Household spray lubricants gum up and carry grit into the pivots. A dirty movement needs cleaning, not more oil.
Stop polishing and refinishing. Stripping a case or scrubbing a dial removes the original surface that collectors pay for. Dust it, wax it lightly, and leave it.
Stop buying one of everything. Ten clocks from one maker or one style teach you more, and resell better, than ten unrelated ones.
Stop forcing things. If a key will not turn or a hand will not move, find out why before you push harder.

Hazards worth knowing

Mainsprings

A wound clock spring stores enough energy to break fingers and throw sharp steel across a room. Never take a movement apart until the springs have been let down with the proper tool, and wear eye protection when you do.

Glowing dials

Alarm and travel clocks from about the 1910s to the 1960s often have radium paint on the hands and numbers. They are generally considered safe to display behind their glass, but do not open them, scrape the paint or keep a large group of them in a bedroom.

Mercury

Some fine French clocks and precision regulators have pendulums holding glass jars of liquid mercury. Keep them upright, never open the jars, and move them only with advice from a specialist.

Weights and wall clocks

A wall clock can weigh 20 pounds or more and tall-case weights are heavier still. Hang from a stud, and take weights and pendulum off before lifting a case.

Old electric clocks

Treat any plug-in clock from before the 1970s as unsafe to plug in until the cord has been checked or replaced.

A dark painted wall clock with a white dial and two weights hanging below it on chains — A weight-driven wall clock, its weights on chains

Where to keep learning

Clock people are generous with what they know, and the fastest way to learn is to stand next to one. The national collectors' association has local chapters across the US that hold meetings and marts where you can handle hundreds of clocks and ask questions, and its forums will identify a clock from a few clear photos. The clock museums in New England and Pennsylvania show the best examples of every American style, which makes the ordinary ones much easier to place.

Collectors' groups, forums and museums

Why the kit is this small

Nothing below is a clock, because finding those is the hobby. The two essentials are a reference guide, so you know what you are looking at before you pay, and a set of winding keys, because most old clocks are sold without one and the hole sizes vary. The recommended lines cover setup and care: a level for getting a pendulum clock to run, a loupe for reading tiny stamped marks, and cloths, gloves and wax for looking after brass and wood without damaging them. Hanging hardware and repair tools sit behind their own add-ons, so add them only if that is the way you are heading. Repair tools in particular are worth nothing until you have read how to use them.

A gilt mantel clock standing between candelabra on a marble mantelpiece in a red room — A gilt mantel clock on a marble mantelpiece

Fill the key drawer

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the drawer panel. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The reference guide, the keys and the setup and care lines start in the kit. The hanging hardware and the repair tools join when you switch on the add-on they belong to.

Antique clock identification and price guide

Essential · Reference

Shows the makers, case styles and movements side by side with typical values, so you can tell a common clock from a scarce one before you pay.

budget

Encyclopedia of Antique American Clocks

4.5(53)

$14.99

Clock Collecting

What clock collecting actually involves

Pick a kind of clock to start with

How to judge a clock before you buy

Your first month, step by step

Living with a mechanical clock

What trips beginners up

Hazards worth knowing

Where to keep learning

Why the kit is this small

Fill the key drawer

Antique clock identification and price guide

Clock winding key set

Small torpedo level

10x loupe with light

Lint-free microfiber cloths

Cotton handling gloves

Paste wax for wood cases

Heavy-duty wall hangers

Stud finder

Beginner clock repair book

Mainspring let-down tool

Safety glasses

Synthetic clock oil with oiler