Regulator Clocks

About Antique Regulator Wall Clocks

Regulator clocks, sometimes referred to as pendulum clocks, were invented in the late 18th century in a quest for greater timekeeping accuracy. They were weight-driven devices and featured a deadbeat escapement (an improvement on the anchor design). To ensure their accuracy, they usually omitted complicated features like calendars. Instead, each of the clock’s hands worked off a different mechanism.

The Englishmen Benjamin Vulliamy and James Harrison invented two of the earliest regulators between 1760 and 1780. Despite this British lineage, regulator clocks were not especially well received in England, but they were in Vienna, where the form flourished. Indeed, Vienna regulator wall clocks gained such a reputation for accuracy that they were routinely used in public places such as railway stations and post offices...

During the Empire period (1800-1835), the cases of early Viennese regulator wall clocks were typically made of wood, which was either polished or gilded. These laterndluhr clocks resembled three boxes, one stacked on top of the other. The upper part of the case housed the movement and was capped by a roof. The clock’s weights dangled in the center of the case, and at the bottom swung the pendulum.

The Biedermeier period (1835-1848) was a very conservative time in Vienna—regulator clocks reflected the new austerity. The dachluhr clocks from this era were thus simpler in style. Instead of three sections, these clocks had two: a top section (still with a roof) for the clock’s face and movement, and a bottom section for the weights and pendulum, which could be accessed by a glass door. The clocks were elegant but rigid in their design, except for the "piecrust" bezels around the clocks’ faces.

The Viennese revolution of 1848 expanded the middle class, which made luxuries like regulators more accessible to a greater percentage of the population. And after years of aesthetic repression, these newly affluent Viennese embraced revivals of Greek, Renaissance, and Gothic styles.

For regulator clocks, this meant that straight sides would give way to serpentine waves. Ornamentation was on the rise, as pediments were interrupted by finials and the sides of regulators were ornately carved and scrolled. As for the dials, they were rendered in creamy, bright porcelain.

In 1850s Vienna, antique regulator clocks continued to become increasingly ornate. This meant more finials, more flanking columns, and fancier woodwork on the clock’s top and bottom—walnut, cherry, and other veneers replaced the faux-grain finishes that had come before. Inside the clock, the movement had hardly changed, but pendulum rods were now made of wood and the bezels around the porcelain dials were eye-catching rings of brass.

The Vienna regulator clocks from about 1870 to 1895 are the most common today. They are also some of the most ornate and beautiful. Signatures of these regulators include the Corinthian columns on the sides of the cases and the clock’s elaborate hands.

All that effusive design ground to a halt at the turn of the 20th century, when the overlapping impulses of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts ushered in the Jugendstil style, which was a precursor of sorts to 20th-century modernism. It was a return to the box regulators of almost a century before, but this time the lines were softer, the boxes were less boxy but more massive. In addition, Viennese regulators from this period often featured leaded and beveled glass in front of their swinging pendulums, and the woods ranged from gorgeous maple to rich walnut.

In the United States, 19th century clock manufacturers such as Ingraham, Sessions, Seth Thomas, and New Haven also made regulators. Some were designed like squat versions of the famous banjo clocks that were so popular, others were marketed as "railroad regulators" with train-station style numerals and hands.

Just as in Vienna, accuracy was the main selling point for makers of U.S. regulators. Even more interesting, the look of these U.S. clocks paralleled the evolving design of those of the old country, which suggests that U.S. clockmakers were not yet setting the standards for clock design.

Key terms for Antique Regulator Clocks:

Escapement: A device that converts the pressure of a spring or coil into a fixed release of movement.

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Waterbury #54 Weight Driven Wall Regulator Wall Clock$500.00 Ends Monday 17 bids 45 watchers
Gustav Becker Vienna Regulator German Antique Clock $472.00 Ends Sunday 9 bids 75 watchers
Vienna Laterndluhr 1 Year Duration Regulator Wall Clock$418.00 Ends Friday 9 bids 67 watchers
3 Wt Grand Sonnerie Vienna Regulator Clock Movement Set$304.99 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 14 watchers
Old Gustav Becker Vienna Regulator 2 Weight Wall Clock$260.01 Ends Saturday 4 bids 41 watchers
Lg And Decorative 2 Weight Vienna Regulator Wall Clock$255.00 Ends Sunday 5 bids 46 watchers
Best Antique Waln Lenzkirch Vienna Wall Clock Regulator$255.00 Ends Sunday 1 bid 50 watchers
Ansonia Crystal Regulator Clock$201.00 Ends Sunday 4 bids 16 watchers
Beautiful Large Seth Thomas Crystal Regulator Clock$158.50 Ends Sunday 7 bids 28 watchers
Waterbury 30 Day Regulator Wall Clock With Seconds Bit $158.38 Ends Sunday 7 bids 51 watchers
Antique Ingraham Ormand Oak Regulator Wall Clock 36x18"$155.69 Ends in 7 hours 20 bids 80 watchers
Antique Sessions Regulator 2 Wall Clock 1903-1930$150.00 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 29 watchers
Vintage "junghans" Walnut Vienna Regulator Clock$137.50 Ends Saturday 9 bids 29 watchers
3 Weight Vienna Regulator Wall Clock Movement$103.50 Ends Sunday 8 bids 42 watchers
Solid Oak Vienna 3 Weight Column Regulator Clock Case$102.50 Ends Monday 3 bids 14 watchers
Antique Lg. Ansonia Cased Regulator A Wall Clock $102.50 Ends Tuesday 5 bids 13 watchers
Antique Junghans Regulator Free Swinger Berliner Clock$100.00 Ends Sunday 2 bids 13 watchers
Antique Sessions Regulator Clock Painted Calendar Face$99.99 Ends Monday 1 bid 24 watchers
Antique Brass Ansonia Regulator Mantle Clock T&s Works$81.90 Ends Sunday 7 bids 13 watchers
D & A Regulator Style Wall Clock - Westminster Chime$81.00 Ends Tuesday 6 bids 10 watchers
Antique 26" Regulator Wall Clock - No Reserve Price$77.00 Ends in 9 hours 16 bids 19 watchers
Antique Solid Elm Office Calendar Regulator Wall Clock$76.99 Ends Monday 3 bids 22 watchers
Antique German Wall Regulator Clock Gustav Becker$76.00 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 13 watchers
Open Escapement 24k Floral Porcelain Regulator Clock$64.00 Ends Wednesday 25 bids 7 watchers
Antique Vienna Regulator R/a Wall Clock$62.16 Ends Saturday 7 bids 36 watchers
Antique Ingraham "landau" Model Wall Regulator Clock$61.00 Ends Monday 5 bids 29 watchers
Antique Wood Case 1800's Regulator Wall Clock~ansonia ?$56.54 Ends Sunday 12 bids 20 watchers
"vienna" Regulator Clock Case...with Pendulum Vintage$50.00 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 7 watchers
Antique Beveled Wheat Glass Panel Regulator Wall Clock$37.00 Ends Thursday 25 bids 8 watchers
Antique 3 Finial Carved Column Regulator Wall Clock -nr$36.00 Ends Thursday 24 bids 6 watchers
Clock Dial Signed Vienna One Weight Regulator Clock $33.00 Ends Wednesday 5 bids 5 watchers
Antique Flat Top Clear Glass Panel Regulator Wall Clock$32.00 Ends Wednesday 23 bids 4 watchers
Vienna Regulator Mauthe German Wall Clock (fms) $31.99 Ends Saturday 4 bids 18 watchers
Antique Etched Floral Glass Panel Regulator Wall Clock$31.00 Ends Wednesday 27 bids 2 watchers
52"h Vienna 3 Weight Column Regulator Wall Clock Case$26.51 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 19 watchers
Ansonia Regulator Wall Clock Time Only Parts Or Repair$25.41 Ends Monday 4 bids 17 watchers
Small Antique Clear Glass Panel Regulator Wall Clock$24.27 Ends Monday 21 bids 11 watchers
Seth Thomas Clock - Regulator$23.00 Ends Sunday 3 bids 24 watchers
Kienzle Uhren German Vienna Small Regulator Clock Parts$21.50 Ends Sunday 2 bids 15 watchers
Antique Minature Grain Painted Regulator Wall Clock$21.12 Ends Sunday 4 bids 24 watchers
French Style Tourbillon Crystal Brass Regulator Clock$16.50 Ends Friday 3 bids 14 watchers
Large 33.5" Grandfather*regulator Clock Pendulum Parts$12.50 Ends Sunday 4 bids 10 watchers
Big Mercury Glass Pendulum For French??Regulator Clock$10.49 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 5 watchers
3 Hand Engraved Brass Weight For Vienna Regulator Clock$9.99 Ends Wednesday 2 bids 6 watchers
Seth Thomas Wood Wall Clock Quartz Regulator Strikes$9.99 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 1 watcher
Five Old Calendar Regulator Clock Hands Parts No Res$9.95 Ends Saturday 1 bid 6 watchers
Vienna Regulator Clock Movement Mantel Clock Parts$2.26 Ends in 8 hours 2 bids 4 watchers
E.n.welch Regulator Calendar Wall Clock Movement Time O$2.25 Ends Wednesday 2 bids 12 watchers
Regulator John Deere Clock Quartz Movement$1.99 Ends Monday 1 bid 1 watcher

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