Hello Daniel,
Thank you for sending in this Girod wall clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Late Art Deco, stained walnut veneer and oak, triple barrel spring, eight day time, hourly strike and quarterly Westminster chiming wall clock, ‘Veritable Carillon Westminster’ model, made and sold by Girod, in Morbier, located in the Jura Mountain region of France, circa 1939-1950.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE – 16” X 26” X 16”, stained dark-hardwood veneered with walnut, possibly oak secondary wood, this is a rectilinear shaped wall clock with many Art Deco touches. The flat pediment has an applied wooden leaf-like ornament which is used again (with a flower this time) to flank the dial and it serves gather up a group of reeded/fluted case strings which run vertically up and down the case façade. At the base these reeded strings join together with another similar pattern on the side of the rounded corners of the case and produce a very pleasant aesthetic effect. The octagonal glazed white metal bezel is in the upper section of the façade, while below, there is a bell shaped glazed aperture with tubular white metal (? aluminum) grille-work and through which one sees the octagonal white metal pendulum bob. A door at the back would provide access to the movement compartment.
DIAL – An octagonal silvered dial with stylized and angular upright Arabic hours (the style of the numerals on the dial is ‘late’ Art Deco), closed minute ring to the inside, the upper dial having the logo of Girod within a diamond shaped cameo and “patent mark” (Marque Depose). Of great interest** are the skeletonized steel “trilon & perisphere” hands, reflective of the World’s Fair of 1939 in Queens, New York. This would also confirm a date for this clock most likely during the following decade.
MOVEMENT – This is the problem for me as I cannot see the entire movement, but can be sure of the following. The gong was cast by Girod in France and the base reads, “Girod, Veritable, Carillon, Westminster”. The movement is made of rectilinear brass plates with tubular steel pillars (with a pull for repeat striking on demand). There are three barrel springs, one for the eight day time train, one for the hourly strike which is attributed to three of the hammers (there are eight) and the Westminster carillon chimes which use five of the hammers. Since I cannot see the movement I cannot be 100% certain whether it was made by Girod in France or by a German maker who supplied movements to Girod following the War, post 1945. Most of these movements are marked Made in France, but many of the movements still have a German look to them with round pendulum suspensions attached with screws to the upper back plate and the general shape of the movement plates and layout of the gearing. The one sure sign of Girod’s work on their own movements is that they tend to have two vertical apertures in the back plate and are often not solid back plates, while the one sure sign of a German made movement is a rectilinear white metal plate, not brass.
CONDITION/PRICING –Aside from some wear to the case which is quite minor this a beautiful example of French aesthetic as the world moved toward the mid-20th century. I think it has great lines, good color, good dial and a functional movement to boot. I like it very much and any problem does not rest with your clock but with the clock market. These clocks generally sell in the $150-$250 in today’s market. I am going to put it into the range of $225-$275 because it is very appealing. If I were selling it I would auction it on E-Bay and then you will really find out what people think of this clock. Of course, you could always place a minimum on it if you are willing to keep the clock for yourself. Giving it to an auction house would not be worth your effort since the auction would take about 25% of the profit margin.
HISTORICAL:
Girod was a clock maker based in the small town of Morbier, located in the Jura Mountains of eastern France right on the border with the Swiss and the German border nearby. They did produce clocks from the 1930’s into the 1960’s. The firm of Girod was founded in 1865 by brothers Leon and Auguste Girod. The later clocks were made almost exclusively in the Art Deco style. Girod clocks (both mantel and tall case) often came with Westminster chimes, and often a second chime named Cloche de Jura, using the same notes as the Westminster chime. A handful of clocks were built with Ave Maria de Lourdes, and St. Etienne chimes. This clock is Westminster chime only, no double chime feature unfortunately. Girod cases usually featured carved walnut appliques and were ornate but tasteful. As a result of the post-World War II German reparation effort, Kienzle clock movements were brought from Germany into the Girod factory in France, assembled and stamped as a Girod movements for possible export to English speaking countries, England, Canada and the USA as other countries.
I enjoyed looking into this clock for you today and I hope you have a good understanding of what went into the manufacture and sale of this piece.
My best,
David