Schatz sold by Remington Rand

[Rod]

I was just given a Schatz 49r with a date of 8-53 I did not pay much attention to the clock untill I got it home and took a closer look at it,It is a narrow plate movement with some "wings" on each side to give it the look of a wide plate unit,that I have read about but I found that the third wheel from the mainspring barrel looks to be a spring barrel also ! I know I have read something about this but I cannot find the article.....What have I got here??

Rod

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NAWCC # 0058915

[Rod]

I was just given a Schatz 49r with a date of 8-53 I did not pay much attention to the clock untill I got it home and took a closer look at it,It is a narrow plate movement with some "wings" on each side to give it the look of a wide plate unit,that I have read about but I found that the third wheel from the mainspring barrel looks to be a spring barrel also ! I know I have read something about this but I cannot find the article.....What have I got here??

Rod

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NAWCC # 0058915

[John Hubby]

Rod, you have a Schatz with what is called 3rd wheel maintaining power. These clocks were made only in 1953 and early 1954, the idea being that the spring barrel on the 3rd wheel would provide more constant power as the mainspring wound down, thus improving timekeeping.

Tests have shown that when the clock is first wound, this spring winds up and does not begin to unwind until the 10th month of operation of the clock. It doesn't improve timekeeping, but it may extend the running time of the clock by perhaps a month or so.

Schatz discontinued this for several reasons, including that it didn't function as planned, was expensive to add when clock prices were collapsing, etc. They never provided replacement parts, if the spring broke they just provided a solid third wheel as a replacement. However, we have identified a pocket watch spring which works just fine as a replacement, I'm not where I can get the info right now but if anyone is interested will post that later.

These are now very collectible, since they also were normally at the top of the line for Schatz clocks. The most elaborate ones have hand painted dials, colored posts, base, and pendulum, and are fitted with a special finial which extends through a hole in the top of the dome.

Regarding published info, Bill Ellison of The Horolovar Company wrote an article on these in 1996 which was published in Chapter #168's journal The Torsion Times.

Hope this will be of interest.

John Hubby
Secretary Chapter #168