
Clocks · Wall clock
Luxor Swiss quartz wall clock, circa 1970s
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1970s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Dimensions
- Height 17.5 in (44 cm)
- Auction house
- Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham
- Lot
- Sale 43, lot 1402
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 1402, Affordable Clocks, Miscellaneous Horology, Books & Tools, Gardiner Houlgate (23rd October 2026)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Luxor Swiss quartz wall clock, circa 1970s, 5” brass chapter ring with Roman numerals and crescent style hands in a heavy gilt-brass and faux walnut effect case, 17.5" high, 8.25" wide ** From the Dav (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham (lot Sale 43, lot 1402), this is a wall clock, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1970s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 17.5 in (44 cm). The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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
Lot description — Gardiner Houlgate
Luxor Swiss quartz wall clock, circa 1970s, 5” brass chapter ring with Roman numerals and crescent style hands in a heavy gilt-brass and faux walnut effect case, 17.5" high, 8.25" wide ** From the David Read Collection
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz movements and digital displays made accurate clocks cheap and ubiquitous after the early 1970s. LED and LCD clocks, clock radios and radio-controlled clocks appeared, while traditional mechanical clockmaking contracted sharply in Germany, France and Britain.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical 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.
Read next:Deadbeat escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement
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