18-03-2019, 11:18 PM
Found this nice little "Stadium" 8 day, art deco clock on fleabay recently.
Unfortunately it didn't run, so I opened it up and found the balance staff was broken. For those who don't "do" clocks and watches, the balance staff is the axle that the escape wheel, a fundamental part of the clock, turns on. The movement was a write off, spares are unavailable and it would cost a fortune to have a watchmaker repair it.
Ah well, it was cheap enough....
A couple of weeks later, the remains of another "Stadium" turned up, only at half the cost of the first but in a dire decorative state, missing glass etc. "Worth a punt", I thought, "might have a escapement I can use". So I put in the opening bid and got it. When it turned up, not only was the balance staff intact, the movement actually ran!
This evening, I put the two together, the pretty case, face and hands with the running movement and it all works nicely!
The "Stadium" clocks are very small, the backplate is only 3" diameter and the face about 1 7/8". The movement was a mass produced, six jewel pocket watch movement, made by L Sandoz in Switzerland. I believe they retailed in the late twenties for about 30/-.
I have previously used "Smiths" clocks on the dashboard which are much more agricultural.
This one should look good on the dashboard of my RK saloon...….
Unfortunately it didn't run, so I opened it up and found the balance staff was broken. For those who don't "do" clocks and watches, the balance staff is the axle that the escape wheel, a fundamental part of the clock, turns on. The movement was a write off, spares are unavailable and it would cost a fortune to have a watchmaker repair it.
Ah well, it was cheap enough....
A couple of weeks later, the remains of another "Stadium" turned up, only at half the cost of the first but in a dire decorative state, missing glass etc. "Worth a punt", I thought, "might have a escapement I can use". So I put in the opening bid and got it. When it turned up, not only was the balance staff intact, the movement actually ran!
This evening, I put the two together, the pretty case, face and hands with the running movement and it all works nicely!
The "Stadium" clocks are very small, the backplate is only 3" diameter and the face about 1 7/8". The movement was a mass produced, six jewel pocket watch movement, made by L Sandoz in Switzerland. I believe they retailed in the late twenties for about 30/-.
I have previously used "Smiths" clocks on the dashboard which are much more agricultural.
This one should look good on the dashboard of my RK saloon...….