Clocks · Regulator
English regulator by C. J. Klaftenberger, 157 Regent Street London
- Maker / attribution
- C. J. Klaftenberger (maker)
- Date
- c. 1870
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- 157 Regent Street London
- Object type
- Regulator
- Stock no.
- Product 981
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 981)
- Catalogue title (original)
- ENGLISH REGULATOR BY C. J. KLAFTENBERGER OF 157 REGENT STREET LONDON (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 981), this is a regulator by C. J. Klaftenberger, made in 157 Regent Street London, England, dated c. 1870. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 2 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 — The Antique Clock Company
English Regulator by Charles. J. Klaftenberger of 157 Regent Street, London. This fine regulator clock of great proportion has been made with superb quality and high attention to detail. Victorian Longcase Regulator. The dial of standard regulator layout being silvered, engraved, 10” round with both Roman and Arabic numerals and signed C. J. Klaftenberger of 157 Regent St. London. The weight driven, 5 pillar movement features oversized plates, jewelled dead-beat escapement, a mercury pendulum and maintaining power. The mahogany case features fine veneers, a long glazed trunk door, a full hood door with subtle mouldings. Altogether a very high quality clock. Aubert & Klaftenberger, 157 Regent Street, London. Aubert & Klaftenberger was created in 1835 by an International partnership between D. F. Aubert of Geneva and the London based Charles. J. Klaftenberger who was working at 157 Regent St. London from 1863 to C.1885. The firm was held in high esteem by Prince Albert, receiving regular orders for clocks and watches from 1845 onwards and favoured by both the Queen and the Prince as the supplier of watches to be presented as gifts. The Company was also contributor to the Horological Section of the Great Exhibition, winning the Honourable Mention from the Jury. In 1859 Aubert & Klaftenberger were awarded a Royal Warrant. Height: 75.5″ or 192cm
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks
A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.
Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.
What to look for
- Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
- A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
- Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
- German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).
Dating clues
- Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
- Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
- German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.
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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