For sale is an oak cased Garrard 8 day Westminster chiming mantel clock. It is in excellent working order having been fully serviced (stripped, cleaned, and re-oiled) and comes complete with original Garrard stamped key and chrome pendulum. The case was somewhat faded and so I have also French polished it to give it back its original lustre. As a bit of background, Garrard & Co were the Crown Jewellers who set up an engineering company as part of the war effort in 1914. In a later effort at diversification, they entered the market for high grade, mass produced clocks, with their first clock being launched in 1931.
Garrards early clocks were renowned for a high quality of engineering, and having serviced a number of these clocks, I can certainly agree with that. Its beautifully crafted, solidly built, with thick front and rear plates (polished and snailed - see pictures). Wheels have five spokes, pendulum and key are chrome plated, even the fly wheels have a snailed finish... The oak case is in excellent condition. It has been cleaned and French polished using a Special Pale polish, returning it to what I like to think is something close to its original finish.
There are a couple of small nicks in the rear right edge of the case (picture 6). The bevelled glass and bezel are in excellent condition, being bright and clear. The door opens and closes smoothly and shuts securely. There is no drop in spite of the size and weight of the door. The rear door also hinges smoothly and latches tight - again, these fittings are in good order, only allowing the latch to rotate 90 degrees from open to close.
The chapter ring is in good condition, though there is some blemishing on the left edge around the VIII, IX and X. Aside from that the numbering and minute divisions are clear. This can all be seen in the pictures.The chime silent lever is placed at the 3 on the dial, and when used, stops both chime and strike functions. There is also a Strike Only function using a lever on the internal hammer mechanism.
The chimes themselves are clear, resonant and very pleasing to the ear. The hands are in good condition, though the minute hand has lost some of its finish towards the tip.Dimensions are 30.5m wide, 22.5cm high and 17cm deep. In terms of servicing, the movement was initially stripped down, cleaned using an ultrasonic bath and an horological cleaning solution.
Further cleaning was then carried out by hand. Pivots and pivot holes were checked for wear and all were found to be good - no bushes were required.
The movement was then re-assembled and re-oiled using both heavy and medium clock oil. The original Garrard springs were removed from the barrels, cleaned and inspected. They were found to be in good condition, so I simply re-oiled and refitted them.
They run for a full 8 days, as they should. The clock will be posted double boxed in brand new packaging, the pendulum / bob will be removed for transport.As an aside, its coming from a smoke and pet free home. It will also be set in beat for a properly level surface (in beat being a nice and evenly spaced tick-tock sound when the pendulum is swinging). However, should the journey to you affect that setting, or if its being placed on a not quite level surface, it may need adjusting. If you need it, Ill be happy to provide assistance.
Its not a complicated process and Ill take time to talk you through it. I want you to be really happy with your clock. If you have any questions that arent answered above, please dont hesitate to get in touch. Im happy to provide any additional information I can. This was illustrated in the excellent book Clockmaking in England and Wales in the Twentieth Century by Glanville & Wolmuth. The book was also used to provide some of the other detail above. If you have any interest in the subject of English clockmaking, Id highly recommend it. Fantastic amount of information and photographs. The item "Garrard Westminster Chiming Mantel Clock Fully Serviced With Original Key" is in sale since Thursday, May 28, 2020.This item is in the category "Antiques\Antique Clocks\Mantel/Carriage Clocks\Post-1900". The seller is "jonabag_98" and is located in Loughborough. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Bahrain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Brunei darussalam, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Cambodia, Saint kitts and nevis, Liechtenstein, Macao, Monaco, Martinique, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Turks and caicos islands, Aruba, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Chile, Bahamas, Costa rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Trinidad and tobago, Uruguay, Viet nam, Antigua and barbuda, Bermuda, Barbados, Cayman islands, Jordan, Saint lucia, Sri lanka, Maldives, Oman, Reunion, South africa, Ukraine, Colombia, Australia, United States, Dominican republic, El salvador.