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Clocks · Carriage clock

Silver chased ‘boudoir’ carriage clock timepiece

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
c. 1916
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Carriage clock
Materials / technique
silver
Stock no.
Product 2843
Credit line
Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 2843)
Catalogue title (original)
SILVER CHASED ‘BOUDOIR’ CARRIAGE CLOCK TIMEPIECE (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 2843), this is a carriage clock, dated c. 1916. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver. The record is illustrated with 3 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

A silver rectangular-shaped carriage clock with a swing handle on four bun feet, with all sides, top and bottom chased with foliate scroll work and gilded interior. The movement is an 8-day French timepiece with platform escapement, fine white enamel dial and the original fine blue steel hands. The clock is also accompanied with its original case. Height: 3 ¼” or 8 cm (Handle down)

Historical context

Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)

The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.

Between 1900 and 1945 clocks were electrified: master-clock systems ran factories and offices, synchronous mains clocks entered homes, and the Shortt free-pendulum clock set new standards of accuracy before the first quartz clocks (1927). Art Deco design reshaped mantel and table clocks.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution

Atlas type guide

Carriage and travel clocks

The carriage clock is a portable spring clock with a balance-wheel escapement and a brass case with glass panels and a carrying handle. Abraham-Louis Breguet made early examples around 1800, and from the 1830s Paul Garnier and other French makers industrialised production, with the small towns of Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont and the Franche-Comté supplying movements for retailers worldwide.

Typical features include a platform escapement mounted horizontally on top of the movement (usually a lever, sometimes cylinder or Garnier's chaff-cutter), striking or repeating work, and alarms. English carriage clocks, generally larger and with fusees, were made by firms such as Frodsham and Dent. Travel clocks in folding leather cases became popular in the twentieth century.

What to look for

  • A platform escapement visible through the top glass.
  • Case styles: corniche, gorge, anglaise, obis or engraved cases.
  • Repeat buttons on top and strike/silent levers.
  • Stamps of movement makers (e.g. Drocourt, Jacot, Margaine, Richard & Co.) on the backplate.

Dating clues

  • Early carriage clocks with Breguet or Garnier features: c. 1800–1850.
  • Mass-produced French carriage clocks: c. 1850–1914.
  • Folding travel clocks and alarm travel clocks: mostly 1920–1970.

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:Detached lever escapement

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