Clocks · Skeleton clock
Skeleton clock by Jaeger-LeCoultre, Switzerland, 1937-1938
- Maker / attribution
- Jaeger-LeCoultre (maker)
- Date
- 1937-1938
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Place
- Switzerland, Switzerland
- Object type
- Skeleton clock
- Dimensions
- overall: 235 mm x 200 mm x 60 mm, Wt. 1.078kg
- Holding institution
- Science Museum Group, London
- Accession / object no.
- 1938-169
- Credit line
- De Trevars Limited
- Catalogue title (original)
- Glass faced skeleton clock.
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Science Museum Group, London (object number 1938-169), this is a skeleton clock by Jaeger-LeCoultre, made in Switzerland, Switzerland, dated 1937-1938. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: overall: 235 mm x 200 mm x 60 mm, Wt. 1.078kg. 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
The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.
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
Skeleton clocks
A skeleton clock displays its movement: the plates are pierced to a minimum so that wheels, escapement and fusee can be seen, usually under a glass dome. French makers produced fine skeleton clocks in the late eighteenth century; in Victorian England they became popular showpieces, with frames in the shapes of cathedrals and famous buildings.
What to look for
- Pierced brass plates in scroll or architectural shapes.
- A glass dome and wooden or marble base.
- Fusee movements and sometimes passing strike on a bell.
Dating clues
- French skeleton clocks: c. 1780–1830.
- English cathedral-style skeleton clocks: c. 1840–1890.
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:FuseeAnchor (recoil) escapement
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