The following bracket clock is from a recent local estate sale. I went to the sale to buy an Evans skeleton clock and ended up also taking home this Anton Hawelk bracket clock. The case style is not to my taste however I bought the clock anyway as I was curious why the movement did not work and also because I thought the dial would look nice when restored. At the time of purchase the name Anton Hawelk meant nothing to me but it was apparent that the dial was finely crafted and that the movement was skillfully made. Anyhow,
…Anton Hawelk, Wien.. Here is a blurb giving some background information: Anton Hawelk (a.k.a. Harvelk or Hawelka) was an extremely gifted watch- and clockmaker who was active in Vienna in the late 19th and early 20th century and worked for the local University Observatory. A number of high quality deck watches and wall clocks made by Hawelk have survived. His early use of the Riefler pendulums in the late 19th century proves that his precision pendulum clocks were of particularly superior quality.
…The Case… The walnut case is approximately 25" tall by 15 1/2" wide. It is well-made and skillfully carved. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning and spiffing up the case but did not polish the brass ornamentation. The ornamentation is easily removed however the three horizontal bands are one-piece castings and would need a wood piece made to support the corners during cleaning and polishing. The finials and lower brass shield were removed for the case cleaning and waxing but not polished so that they might blend in with the horizontal bands.
…The Dial…The engraving is deep and is of top quality. There is a recessed moon dial in the arch which is painted in its center and which has a silvered ring around its periphery with numerals. The moon dial is a brass disc with the moon, stars and numeral ring being raised (bas relief) and with the background being filled with blue paint. Additionally there are two subsidiary dials in the arch, the right one being for chime/silent and the left one being a selection for either for grande or petit sonnerie chiming. There is blue paint filling the center of each of these dials. I re-silvered the moon dial, subsidiary dials and the chapter ring and cleaned the painted portions. The spandrels retained their original gilding and cleaned up nicely. The dial plate was polished and everything was waxed. The nameplate is on a reserve rather than being removable and had to be silvered in place. It looks a little dicey in the photo of the finished dial but looks fine in person. What appears to be brass colored around the edge of the name reserve is actually the bevel where it tapers into the plate.
...The Movement… The 8 day movement is finely crafted and finished. All three barrels are provided with stopworks on the barrel cap. The movement is now working properly but should be overhauled. The pin hole on the strike side gathering pallet arbor extension is torn almost completely through and will have to be dealt with when/if the movement is overhauled. It holds the gathering pallet on for now should be attended to.
…The Striking and Chiming System… The right side subsidiary dial gives the option of chime or silent. On silent, the wire on the back of the dial merely interferes with the flirt, limiting its upward travel, thus preventing it from raising the chime rack hook. There is no provision for strike only. If the chime does not activate, one does not get a strike as the strike function is initiated by the chime. When the selection is in the chime position the movement chimes each quarter on the smaller bell followed by the corresponding hour on the larger(strike) bell. There is only one chime peal at the quarter, two at the half, three at forty five and four at the hour.
The left side subsidiary dial provides the option of either full-chime at the quarter hours (quarter followed by the hour) or quarters only at the quarter hours. The sole function of this dial is to lift the interference lever so that it does not hook with the pin on the strike rack at the full chime setting. When the interference lever is not raised its notch hooks the strike rack at the three quarter-hour positions preventing the strike from actuating. At the hour, the chime racks fall far enough that its pin hits the strike interference lever extension which then releases the strike. If this discussion has not put you to sleep already and you give a hoot, the annotated photo of the movement front plate illustrates this.
The chime function on this clock, by way of summary, is similar to what we are used to seeing on 3-weight Vienna regulators but with the additional feature of chime selection.
…The Moon Dial Trip Lever…The tip of the moon dial trip(advance) lever pivots about a point and is spring loaded. When the lever drops back down after advancing the moon the pivoting actin allows the tip to clear the next moon dial tooth. The spring tips it back into place after the tip clears the tooth. The last photo shows this.
…Case/Movement installation… The movement is pinned to the dial by means of four posts. This assembly in turn is installed in the case from the back. The dial is pressed forward into a recess and against the dial mask(masque?). The four discs mounted on the dial, which are truncated on one side, are rotated so that their edge goes into a slot in the case. The photo of the back of the case with the movement installed and a close-up photo of one of the discs illustrate this.
bwclock
…Anton Hawelk, Wien.. Here is a blurb giving some background information: Anton Hawelk (a.k.a. Harvelk or Hawelka) was an extremely gifted watch- and clockmaker who was active in Vienna in the late 19th and early 20th century and worked for the local University Observatory. A number of high quality deck watches and wall clocks made by Hawelk have survived. His early use of the Riefler pendulums in the late 19th century proves that his precision pendulum clocks were of particularly superior quality.
…The Case… The walnut case is approximately 25" tall by 15 1/2" wide. It is well-made and skillfully carved. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning and spiffing up the case but did not polish the brass ornamentation. The ornamentation is easily removed however the three horizontal bands are one-piece castings and would need a wood piece made to support the corners during cleaning and polishing. The finials and lower brass shield were removed for the case cleaning and waxing but not polished so that they might blend in with the horizontal bands.
…The Dial…The engraving is deep and is of top quality. There is a recessed moon dial in the arch which is painted in its center and which has a silvered ring around its periphery with numerals. The moon dial is a brass disc with the moon, stars and numeral ring being raised (bas relief) and with the background being filled with blue paint. Additionally there are two subsidiary dials in the arch, the right one being for chime/silent and the left one being a selection for either for grande or petit sonnerie chiming. There is blue paint filling the center of each of these dials. I re-silvered the moon dial, subsidiary dials and the chapter ring and cleaned the painted portions. The spandrels retained their original gilding and cleaned up nicely. The dial plate was polished and everything was waxed. The nameplate is on a reserve rather than being removable and had to be silvered in place. It looks a little dicey in the photo of the finished dial but looks fine in person. What appears to be brass colored around the edge of the name reserve is actually the bevel where it tapers into the plate.
...The Movement… The 8 day movement is finely crafted and finished. All three barrels are provided with stopworks on the barrel cap. The movement is now working properly but should be overhauled. The pin hole on the strike side gathering pallet arbor extension is torn almost completely through and will have to be dealt with when/if the movement is overhauled. It holds the gathering pallet on for now should be attended to.
…The Striking and Chiming System… The right side subsidiary dial gives the option of chime or silent. On silent, the wire on the back of the dial merely interferes with the flirt, limiting its upward travel, thus preventing it from raising the chime rack hook. There is no provision for strike only. If the chime does not activate, one does not get a strike as the strike function is initiated by the chime. When the selection is in the chime position the movement chimes each quarter on the smaller bell followed by the corresponding hour on the larger(strike) bell. There is only one chime peal at the quarter, two at the half, three at forty five and four at the hour.
The left side subsidiary dial provides the option of either full-chime at the quarter hours (quarter followed by the hour) or quarters only at the quarter hours. The sole function of this dial is to lift the interference lever so that it does not hook with the pin on the strike rack at the full chime setting. When the interference lever is not raised its notch hooks the strike rack at the three quarter-hour positions preventing the strike from actuating. At the hour, the chime racks fall far enough that its pin hits the strike interference lever extension which then releases the strike. If this discussion has not put you to sleep already and you give a hoot, the annotated photo of the movement front plate illustrates this.
The chime function on this clock, by way of summary, is similar to what we are used to seeing on 3-weight Vienna regulators but with the additional feature of chime selection.
…The Moon Dial Trip Lever…The tip of the moon dial trip(advance) lever pivots about a point and is spring loaded. When the lever drops back down after advancing the moon the pivoting actin allows the tip to clear the next moon dial tooth. The spring tips it back into place after the tip clears the tooth. The last photo shows this.
…Case/Movement installation… The movement is pinned to the dial by means of four posts. This assembly in turn is installed in the case from the back. The dial is pressed forward into a recess and against the dial mask(masque?). The four discs mounted on the dial, which are truncated on one side, are rotated so that their edge goes into a slot in the case. The photo of the back of the case with the movement installed and a close-up photo of one of the discs illustrate this.
bwclock
