Clocks · Clock
Angelus Art Deco Desk Clock For Tiffany & Co, 1950s
- Maker / attribution
- Angelus (maker)
- Date
- 1950s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Clock
- Stock no.
- Product 6816321798231
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (product 6816321798231)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Angelus Art Deco Desk Clock For Tiffany & Co. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number Product 6816321798231), this is a clock by Angelus, made in Switzerland, dated 1950s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 5 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Analog/Shift
Sure, Analog:Shift is a business built around the love of watches — mostly mechanical watches. But, in essence, it’s our love for timepieces and timekeeping in general that are the common themes throughout the items we procure. And that includes the love of clocks in general: pocket watches, travel clocks, and more. After all, in the couple hundred years before the First World War, personal timekeeping was all about the pocket watch, and before that, it was larger clocks that were front and center, horologically. We still believe a good clock — such as a classic travel model from the 1920s or 1930s — has a place in the watch lover’s collection. This particular timepiece is a vintage travel alarm clock made by Swiss watchmaker Angelus for American retailer Tiffany & Co. Dating to the 1950s, it’s a stunning time capsule of an object, evocative and beautiful. Housed in a 3.34” x 3.54” x 1.45” chromed-plated, rectangular brass Art Deco case with an acrylic crystal, it features a satin silver radium dial with luminous Arabic indices, an outer ‘railroad’ minute track, a matching, blued steel ‘sword’ handset with a stainless steel alarm indicator hand, and both the Angelus and Tiffany wordmarks. Powering this handsome piece is a 15-jewel mechanical movement with an 8-day power reserve, which was common in high-end clocks of the time. Whether you’re looking for an accent piece in your own home or for a gift for a friend, this Angelus X Tiffany clock is an appropriate and classic choice.
Historical context
Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.
Post-war clocks combined new materials and industrial design: plastic and metal cases, battery-powered transistor movements from the late 1950s, and design classics by George Nelson, Max Bill and others. The first caesium atomic clock (1955) moved the definition of time from astronomy to physics.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking
Atlas type guide
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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