Hello Charlotte,
Thank you for sending in this standing regulator for an appraisal to mearto.com.
TITLE:
Walnut, single brass weight, imported Swiss made, dead beat pinwheel escapement movement, eight day time only, standing Jewelers Regulator, based on the American Clock Company original design of 1874, but this clock is attributed to EITHER the Waterbury Clock Company Regulator #4, made by the Waterbury Clock Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, Circa 1885 or the New Haven Regulator no. 4 made by the New Haven Clock Company of New Haven, Connecticut, circa 1886.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTS ON THE AMERICAN JEWELER'S REGULATOR:
The American Clock Company was founded in New York City in 1864, with a branch in Chicago, Illinois in 1865 and another in San Francisco shortly thereafter. Seth Thomas and Ethel Hine of New York were the original partners which shortly included the clock companies of Seth Thomas, Atkins, Gilbert, Welch, New Haven, Welch Spring & Company and Silas B. Terry, all or most of the major clock companies in Connecticut. It was formed as a cooperative enterprise to trade clock parts and represent many large manufacturers in the ensuing years. In 1872, G.S. Lovell was the Philadelphia agent for the American clock Company. His catalog for 1872 lists Regulator 25 and then in 1874 he renames the standing floor model Regulator 8E. It formed the basis for the standing Jeweler’s regulator for all of the major Connecticut clock companies and for america in general. Nine years later the Waterbury Company came out with their Regulator #4, which was almost identical. In October of 1979 the American Clock Company went bankrupt. Each of the above companies made their own versions of the large cases for these floor regulators. I also noted that the pediment on the New Haven Jewelers regulator No 4 is precisely the same as on your clock. Trouble is that the New Haven clock measures 10 feet 2 1/2inches, but I suspect that the American clock makers had furniture companies working for them and could adjust the height of any of these when ordered by a jeweler for his store.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE: 9’6” Tall. This is a walnut jeweler’s standing regulator made for his shop to keep precise time. The pediment of the clock is a complex one with a sunburst solid carved fretwork at the top of a wooden plinth with a female with long hair carved and applied to the pediment below the sunburst. Her head is underscored in carved drapery attached to two rosettes on a level with her face. A Fleur-de Lys sits just below the drapery. She is flanked by two concave moulded broken arches with the pediment terminating at both sides with a pinwheel design. There are two wooden polygons attached to the tympanum of the pediment. Below there is a double stepped overhung cornice with two rectangular friezes and a central volute between them. There is a full length rectangular glass door which overlies the dial and the large gridiron pendulum and brass bob. The dial has a wooden dial surround, taking up the upper half of the dial, a carved foliate fret above and two double layers undecorated pentagonal pieces of wood to either side. That upper part of the door is flanked by carved wooden pilasters resembling arrows pointing downwards. Further out from the main case are the upper sidearms which resemble corbels (architectural term) with pin wheel carving at the top. Framing the central glass are flat pilasters of walnut. Half way down the door the second set of side-arms sticks out from the case and these are both in carved foliate form. At the base of the door is the third set of side arms resembling those at the top, although the one on the right side is missing from your case. The side panels are rectangular and glazed as well. Below the door are two horizontal cornices with a plain frieze in the middle. This tripartite moulding transitions down to the rectilinear base with an inset concentrically shaped panel with thumb moulding enclosing the recessed portion which holds another concentric panel. At the base there is a double moulding, one atop the other and the base sits flat to the floor. Other than the difference of 8.5” your case resembles the New Haven Clock Company Regulator No 4 precisely. (I can see a picture of that model but not the Waterbury regulator number 4. New Haven made their number 4 standing regulator for the first time in 1886.)
DIAL: I am a bit uncertain but this may be a 12” diameter dial enclosed by a gilt brass bezel. The dial is usually made of white shiny porcelain with black enameled Roman hour chapter ring, closed bar minute track to the outside, two original steel Breguet hands (original to this dial) and a counterbalanced sweep center seconds pointer. There is a single winding aperture for the single weight (not shown) just above the six position.
MOVEMENT: NOT SHOWN, but I have tried to describe the basic movement to mearto customers before and I will use my description as being close to what is behind your dial, remember that both dial and movement were made in or near Geneva, Switzerland. So, I am quoting myself here - “A large rectilinear solid brass front and rear plate movement connected with four tubular brass pillars. The pillars extend forward to connect with the back of the dial. There is a pinwheel escapement present with pins on a circular escape wheel which then make contact with two long steel arms that stick to a tooth one after the other and that forms the pinwheel escapement which is a dead beat type of escarpment in that there is no recoil and no lost fractions of a second. I will borrow from the Website of the “Clock Guy” to show you his drawing of the escapement: PLEASE SEE: https://www.clockguy.com/SiteRelated/SiteReferencePages/PinwheelEscapement.html
The movement has cut steel pinions, steel arbors with only four brass gears attached with the lowest between the plates being a brass barrel gear or wheel to take up the cord from the single brass canister weight which drives the movement of the clock for eight days and is likely accurate to within a few seconds per week. (The weight is not shown in this set of photos. The movement is jeweled with rubies, uses extremely heavy plates, has polished and hardened replaceable pivots, a grooved main wheel and the winding arbor pivots are protected by roller bearings and the movement has maintaining power (the movement keeps running when being wound) common to most precision regulators. The pendulum hangs from a heavy suspension at the upper end of the back plate. Below, this rod becomes a temperature compensating gridiron pendulum with alternating rods of steel and brass, the two metals compensating for changes in temperature. It has a decorative skeletonized lyre attachment placed just above the large brass covered bob at the bottom. The heavy brass weight is powerful enough to drive a triple compounded pulley system and this results in a duration of running time of eight days”. . .
CONDITION:
CASE – The case is in very good condition, although it appears to be missing the lower right side-arm piece of wood at the base of the glazed door
DIAL - Perfect except for a stain just above the base of the hands in the dial center.
MOVEMENT – I will make the extraordinary assumption that this movement is original to this case, genuine, Swiss and possibly functional if you have the weight which is not shown.
COMPARABLES:
**N.B.~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/new-haven-clock-co-new-haven-conn-regulator-no-4-jeweler-s-DkgZPBuq6X (here is the New Haven no. 4 standing walnut jeweler’s regulator which is what I believe you own. It sold in 2017 for $6000)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/98180252_ansonia-15-standing-jewelers-regulator-clock (Ansonia sold in 2021 for $5500)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/47074955_welch-pinwheel-floor-regulator (E.M. Welch jeweler’s regulator sold in 2016 for $3000)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/106487591_waterbury-clock-co-regulator-no-10-standing-jeweler-s (Waterbury no 10 in oak case stained, sold in 2021 for $2600)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/106487589_wm-l-gilbert-clock-co-regulator-no-12-standing (Gilbert No 12 standing regulator sold in 2021 for $3200)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/65426067_ornate-george-b-owen-walnut-regulator-no-3-standing (Ornate George B. Owen regulator in walnut case sold for $8000 in 2018)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/waterbury-clock-co-regulator-no-10-standing-jeweler-s-regulator-Mfp1o5vedO (Sold in 2021 this Waterbury no 10 in oak sold for $2800)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/a-waterbury-floor-standing-regulator-model-61-LHr34lyKQf (this is a Waterbury no 61 floor regulator made in 1912 in oak, it sold for $7000 in 2016)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/new-haven-no-4-jewelers-pinwheel-regulator--YjYNif9p (another New Haven no 4 sold at a different auction house in 2016 selling for $4250)
PRICING:
The regular clock catalogs of the Connecticut companies did not always contain photos of jeweler’s regulators because part of the clock was imported. However, many were sold in this country for use in America.
Assuming that you have the weight for the clock and that the movement which I have not been shown is original and genuine, despite the smudge (which I think can be cleaned) on the dial and missing small sidearm piece, I believe the fair market for you jeweler’s regulator, most likely made by the New Haven Clock Company would have a fair market value in the range of $5500-$6500 in today’s market place.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for this appraisal. I apologize for any typos I made and missed correcting.
My best,
David
p.s. It's not 350 years old.