Hello Kelly,
Thank you for sending in your Hamilton grandfather clock (today called a Hall clock) to mearto.com for an appraisal. I will try to help you with that today. In addition, I have added a Historical section below to explain why this Hamilton clock is unrelated to the earlier Hamilton Watch company of Lancaster, Pa.
TITLE:
Stained oak and walnut, three weight, time, strike and quarterly chiming Hall clock (aka-the modern grandfather clock), dial marked, “Hamilton, established 1892, Lancaster, Pa.”, movement imported from Germany (? Kieninger), case attributed to the Hoke Furniture company of Thurmont, Md., made circa mid to late 1970s. Accompanied by a Hamilton Clock booklet.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE – Measuring 80” x 14” x 22” this is a contemporary style, stained oak and burl walnut veneered, triple weight driven Hall clock with an undulating arched pediment over a tympanum with raised burl walnut panels with an arched cornice over the arched glazed dial door. The dial door is flanked by solid half columns that proceed down both sides of the case. The full length beveled glass door is divided into two parts: The upper glass overlies the dial while the longer lower glass allows viewing the descent of the three brass canister weights and the arc of the ornate gridiron pendulum and lyre ornamented embossed pendulum bob (the lyre marked Hamilton) as it swings inside the case. Below is a narrow concave molding leading to a horizontal burl walnut frieze above the base with its straight bracket feet. . .
DIAL - An arched single piece, brass alloy dial with silvered Arabic hour chapter in circular cartouche form, closed minute ring, open filigree foliate type grillwork in the dial center as well as in the four spandrels while in the lunette there is a revolving lunar dial (actually may be the rotating planet earth) with two stylized northern hemisphere maps (east and west). In between the maps the dial has a modern round headed nut and not logo is seen here, suggesting a German origin for the dial (and movement). There are steel machine stamped Chippendale-style hands with a silvered subsidiary seconds dial under twelve . .
MOVEMENT - Not shown but would be an imported German made movement, likely supplied by either Franz Hermle or Kieninger. It would be a solid brass plate movement powered by the fall of three brass canister weights which are wound from the apertures on the dial. This provides a movement with an eight day duration, striking the hours and half hours while playing English Church chimes on the quarter hours. This is usually accomplished on a series of metal rods attached to the case using multiple hammers.
The controls for the chiming and for the Silent/Chime function are located at the three and nine positions on the dial. There is a long gridiron pendulum inside the case with a large embossed brass bob and a lyre shaped polished brass ornament just above the bob.. .
CONDITION - The case is in very fine condition with no obvious damage. The dial is like new and the movement is most likely still functional. The fair market price of these Hall clocks has taken a real hit over the past 3-4 decades since hundreds of thousands of such clocks were made. However, their retail prices are still strong.
HISTORICAL - In 1969, the Hamilton Watch Company completely ended American manufacturing operations with the closure of its factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, shifting manufacturing operations to the Buren Watch factory in Switzerland.
From 1969 to 1972, all new Hamilton watches were produced in Switzerland by Hamilton's Buren subsidiary. In 1971, the Buren brand was returned to Swiss ownership and by 1972, the Buren-Hamilton partnership was dissolved and the factory liquidated, due to decreased interest and sales of the Hamilton-Buren watch product.
On May 16, 1974, the Hamilton brand was sold to SSIH (subsequently The Swatch Group). The above company never had anything to do with clockmaking.
~Post 1974 - The Hamilton name was used in America, actually in Lancaster Pa. and became linked with clock makers and furniture manufacturers. Hamilton Clock Co., for example, produced museum reproductions in a joint venture with Kindel Furniture Co. Kindel was under the ownership of Ridgeway furniture. Ridgeway's sales of clocks rose by 27 percent in the first year after Pulaski, a southern Virginia furniture manufacturer, acquired it.
Gravely, whose Ridgeway Clock Co. was bought out by Pulaski in 1985, had established Virginia Clocks of Martinsville, Va., dedicated to making and selling clocks the old-fashioned way through specialty stores. Some of these clocks were marked for ‘Hamilton’.
In addition to the more famous furniture manufacturers, this specialty product for many years included the hardwood clock cases that the Hoke Furniture Company of Thurmont, Md. produced exclusively for the Hamilton Clock Co. in Lancaster, Pa. Clock cases included grandfather clocks, wall clocks, and mantle clocks. Clock cases that were contracted by the Hamilton Clock Co. out of Lancaster, Pa. were assembled, finished, and fitted with glass, hardware, and in some models, the movements. Clocks varying from Grandfather, Wall, and Mantle clocks were produced and shipped to Lancaster each week on a factory truck designated for this purpose.
The Hamilton product from any of the above sources has since died out.
I hope all of this has been of some interest to you, as it has been to me. The fair market value does not reflect the beauty of this clock. I have compared it to other Hamilton grandfather clocks very similar to this that have sold on the auction market and conclude that your example would sell at auction today in a range of $300-$375. Retail prices for such a clock would be several time higher than this.
My best,
David