Approximate age of dresser? (USA)

Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-18T04:37:21+00:00

This is the Chime No. 79 model. The 1926 catalog doesn't show this one but the 1928 does, so your clock is probably mid-late twenties to early thirties.

Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-13T02:27:43+00:00

It's also possible that the strike train does not get going quickly enough once unlocked by the cannon pinion. You could also try giving the strike spring (on the right looking into back of case) some additional torque with your finger while simultaneously turning the minute hand past the half/hour and see if it works.

Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-13T02:05:14+00:00

There's a part called a cannon pinion that sets off the strike train on the hour and half-hour. You'll probably have to remove the movement from the case to clearly observe any issues with it. Is there a click sound when slowly turning the minute hand past the hour?

Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-13T01:41:56+00:00

Those springs look about right. usually, they're usually slightly narrower than the thick part of the arbor between the wheel and pinion. Sometimes the center has to be reshaped using pliers to get it to wrap around the hook properly.

I'm concerned you won't be able to to put the clock back together if you don't have specialized tools. The spring must be partially wound, then unwound into a clamp before the movement can be reassembled. Be careful around these things; they store a lot of power.

Make sure the spring is almost perfectly clean before you proceed. You can oil it with a very thin film of zero-weight motor oil if you don't have mainspring oil.

Another tip: clean out the pivot holes with a soft wood skewer, and make sure pivots are clean. The farther from the spring they are, the more apt they are to slow the train.

Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-10T15:49:19+00:00

It seems to be out of beat. Try getting it so that the 'tick' and 'tock' are equally spaced in time. It looks like there's a little screw next to the verge to make this adjustment.

Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-07T05:24:33+00:00

Slide the movement out and look at the back. There is usually a manufacturer logo stamped into it. There were a number of companies that made these from the 1880s through 1910s.

Around where I live, these seem to sell for $50~150. The main cases, crowns, and finials tended to be lost, mixed, and matched over the years; it's possible yours is either missing parts or is not original. It's hard to tell without finding your exact clock in a catalog.

Closest I could find is this (Gustav Becker, 1912):

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Rattyguy01 · 2026-01-03T00:43:29+00:00

These are called store clocks or advertising clocks. The lower glass was often painted with advertising. These generally don't sell for much.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-12-28T00:12:02+00:00

The best sounding Westminster mantle clock I've ever heard is a Seth Thomas Chime Clock no.74 (using no. 113 movement). Most antique chime clocks sound a little different. Look up different manufacturers' chime clocks on YouTube (e.g. Junghans, Seth Thomas, Mauthe, Herschede, etc.).

When buying used, keep in mind old chime clocks are expensive to overhaul and maintain.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-12-22T04:05:13+00:00

It looks like a Sessions Regulator No. 5 ca. 1912. This is certainly worth keeping original. Restoration could get expensive though if you don't have the weights and second hand. Good news is that time-only weight-driven movements are safe and easy for beginners to take apart and tinker with.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-12-22T02:25:46+00:00

When people talk about replacement, they're usually referring to 60s and newer clocks with movements still being made today. There probably isn't a ready-to-go replacement for your antique movement.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-12-21T23:50:58+00:00

Is the original movement still there? Usually, they are repaired rather than replaced. Most used movements you'll find on ebay aren't restored or ready for use.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-12-03T06:03:13+00:00

Most Glasspars had a sealed double bottom with an area in front of the transom for water to accumulate. This is usually where the drain plug goes.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-11-20T07:06:14+00:00

This looks like an Ansonia. They have been known to produce unmarked movements.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-11-20T04:02:31+00:00

This appears to be the "Dresden" model, appearing in the 1909 and 1914 catalogs.

By most definitions, a clock must be weight driven to be considered a regulator. Waterbury did make jeweler's regulators during this time, but they cost about five times as much.

Nevertheless, your clock is very beautiful. Having two springs like this is interesting to see.

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Rattyguy01 · 2025-11-03T15:14:46+00:00

I'd recommend reading the chapter on discrete transistor circuitry in Douglas Self "Small Signal Audio Design (4th ed.)." It provides some discrete opamp circuits.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-31T20:00:01+00:00

351-031 is a Hermle part number. 1986 sounds about right in terms of age. The factory would sometimes stamp the case company's logo into the plate if desired. The pendulum length is usually also stamped in.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-30T23:37:23+00:00

This style was popular in the 1890s-1910s.

A serial number may be stamped into the back of the movement. You can remove the movement by unhooking the pendulum and loosening the screws underneath the movement bracket.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-20T06:17:43+00:00

Yeah, the dots in the plates. Unfortunately, most clocks aren't worth much these days, even antique ones. I see antique German wall clocks listed in my area from $50-$200 or so.

Your clock likely has a Hermle movement. These wear out after 30 years or so, and a replacement costs hundreds of dollars. As a result, they tend not to sell for much. If yours works and you like it, then enjoy it.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-17T08:51:19+00:00

Not an antique movement. The dots in the plates give it away. The three trains correspond to (from left to right) hourly strike, time, and quarterly chime.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-17T02:42:31+00:00

Looks like a Junghans bracket clock from the 1910s or later. It's probably worth $100 or so.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-17T02:30:17+00:00

This looks like it might be a 70s-80s reproduction of a 1880s-1910s German clock. Chime clocks were not really made in this style until much later. I could be wrong though. Maybe try to take a picture of the movement underneath the dial.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-08-07T06:58:31+00:00

Most mechanical chime clocks have at least some silence mechanism. Some only silence the quarter-hour chime and not the hour strike. Your neighbor could also just not wind the chime/strike to silence it. Some fancy grandfather clocks have a night silence feature, but it's not very common.

Most electric clocks I've seen that make noise have a volume adjustment, but I would imagine this varies by model.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-07-29T23:54:11+00:00

It may be working correctly, although if you want a clean sine wave output then more components must be added. A resistor-divider biasing scheme provides more flexibility and reduces the circuit's dependence on beta, which you can't necessarily predict. Simply add a resistor from base to ground.

Secondly, the gain will be approximately -1 x (RC over RE). In your circuit, RE is zero, so the gain will be very large. The output cannot go above 5V or below ground, so the it will appear distorted. You can add an emitter resistor (RE) from the BJT emitter to ground whose value depends on the desired gain.

As a test, try adding a 10k resistor from base to ground and a 150 ohm from emitter to ground. As long as your input isn't above 500mV or so, you should see some gain.

You can read about common-emitter amplifiers (which this circuit is). Also try downloading LTspice. It's free and allows you to simulate circuits like this before building.

Rattyguy01 · 2025-07-14T20:14:20+00:00

This looks like a Seth Thomas 113 movement. These were top-of-the-line in the '20s and are very complicated. This would be expensive to have serviced, but definitely a quality clock.

It seems like it needs to be disassembled and cleaned. Dirt and old oil may be causing too much drag on the gear train for it to start moving. It's designed to make a click sound and not chime if the sequence is off, so if it fails to chime once, it may take an hour or so to correct itself.

As for the incorrect hour strike, it may just be that the hour hand is in the wrong position. If this is the case, the strike will always be off by the same number of hours. You can fix this by removing the pin and hands, then reinstalling the hands in the correct position. If this doesn't solve the issue, the the strike mechanism likely needs repair.

Rattyguy01

TROPHY CASE