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Wall clock by Junghans, Germany, 1950s — view 1 of 1
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Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock by Junghans, Germany, 1950s

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Junghans (maker)
Date
1950s
Country of origin
Germany
Place
Germany
Object type
Wall clock
Materials / technique
wood, oak, lastulevy, metal, plastic, silver
Dimensions
diameter 31,00 cm; height 5,00 cm
Holding institution
Nurmijärven museo
Accession / object no.
nm_e_1470_3
Credit line
Nurmijärven museo (via Finna)
Catalogue title (original)
seinäkello; kello (Finnish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Nurmijärven museo (object number nm_e_1470_3), this is a wall clock by Junghans, made in Germany, dated 1950s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood, oak, lastulevy, metal, plastic, silver. Recorded dimensions: diameter 31,00 cm; height 5,00 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

Description — Nurmijärven museo

Pyöreän kellotaulun keskusta on lakattua kuperaksi koverrettua tammea, keskustaan on kiinnitetty kullanväriset viisarit, valmistajan merkit ja muistolaatta. Kellon reunoissa on vaalean (muovi)reunuksen päällä kullanväriset roomalaiset numerot ja kullanvärinen ulkoreuna. Kellonpohja on lastulevyä, siinä on aukot kellon koneistoa ja ripustusnaulaa varten, sekä pienet kumipohjaiset puutapit (3 kpl). Muovinen koneisto toimii pattereilla.

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Inscriptions & marks

Valmistajan merkinnät: Junghans Electora Made in Germany. Muistokaiverrus hopeisessa laatassa "Nurmijärven kunnanvaltuuston 50-vuotisjuhlapäivänä Nurmijärven manttaalikunta". Laatassa näkyvissä jalometallin leimat.

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

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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