George Borgfeldt 5 Tube

[morpheyes]

View attachment 748726

View attachment 748726 The thread subject is all I know. Looking for knowledge. View attachment 748726

 

[morpheyes]

Sorry about the picture fiasco above. Looking for information on the seller and/or the clockmaker.

 

[EscapeWheel]

This webpage might help in your quest. Have you been able to hear the chimes?

Charles Jacques Clock Co. History - Antique Clocks Guy: Antique Clocks and Mechanical Musical Instruments. We bring collectors and buyers together. Always the highest quality antique clocks available; fabulous antique automatic musical instruments. (clockguy.com)

 

[morpheyes]

Thank you EscapeWheel this is a big piece of the puzzle. Finding the history of individual clocks is great fun. Yes, I have had the pleasure of hearing the chimes. This is my first tube clock and the anticipation was too great. Oiled the works, set up the clock and bumped the pendulum. It sounds magical and is keeping exceptional time.

 

[EscapeWheel]

I would have done the same thing. Maybe I'll find a tube clock one day.

 

[J. A. Olson]

A great quality Jacques clock. Your clock was made during the 1920's after Charles Jacques left the business to George Borgfeldt & Company in NYC. The later 'Jacques' clocks made by Borgfeldt had simple but robust cases, the chimes within being their main attraction.
While many Jacques clocks had unusual and complex chime melodies, your clock will only play the Westminster chime on 4 tubes and strike the hour on the 5th tube. The majority of Borgfeldt Jacques clocks had 5, 6, or 9 tubes playing one, two, or three chime melodies respectively.

Movements were made in Germany by Math. Bäuerle GmbH specially for Borgfeldt's Jacques clocks. While not explicitly signed, it has been established that the tubes were made by R. H. Mayland's factory in Brooklyn and the cases were made by any one of several contractors.
The Borgfeldt Jacques tubular bell chime hall clocks were given a serial number for each clock built: an exact dating guide for each serial has not been prepared but would be something worth looking into doing. I do not think the smaller mantel clock cases were serialized.

It must be remembered that Borgfeldt was an importer and wholesaler of clocks + parts thereof instead of an in-house clock manufacturer. They did not do much standalone advertising in the trade magazines, so here's one of those 'rare' advertisements they published. The clock featured here will look familiar.

 

[morpheyes]

J. A. Olson,
I can't thank you enough for this information. I was only able to find Dolls tied to Borgfeldt. The print add is amazing! The case looks exactly the same. It also confirms the question of could it be Mahogany or not. Interesting note is the rack for the tubes has the hardware to hang six tubes.
So may I go with the assumption that this clock is indeed a model 627?

Best Regards

 

[J. A. Olson]

Your clock looks like a Model 627. A very elegant case with round dial and could be had with 5, 6, or 9 tube movements.
Borgfeldt had some similar cases which used the same dial and basic structuring but differed in details such as pillars or carvings.

If you look along the back of the case you may find the model number stamped alongside the case cut number and parts identifiers, which were used for manufacturing guidance when the case was built.

 

[morpheyes]

Good news! The case is stamped on the back 627. There is also some chalk writing on the inside of the case behind the movement. Maybe one of the cut or parts identifiers?

J. A. Olson I see you are from Wisconsin. Both of my parents were born and raised in Sheboygan. Would you know the best way to clean/polish the tubes? Would hate to change the tone by doing it incorrectly.

Best Regards

 

[J. A. Olson]

It was common for the wooden parts to have notes written in chalk or graphite, usually model numbers or guidance during assembly. It was useful since some of those case patterns were similar to one another but not identical.

Any good quality brass polish should work for the tubes, ensuring it doesn't leave any residue or glazed layering behind. You can also use it to polish up the pendulum bob and weights. The dial would have to be resilvered altogether, but the numerals look like they retained their golden finish.

I lived in Wisconsin for many years and began the clock collection when I lived in North Fond du Lac. There were a good number of Borgfeldt and Herschede clocks sold throughout Wisconsin and some of them ended up in public venues. The University of Wisconsin in Madison had a landmark Herschede which appears to have disappeared at some point.

 

[morpheyes]

My mother graduated from the University of Wisconsin. Thank you for sharing this and I can't wait to share it with her.

I'm guessing the "collection" is of tube chime clocks?

I'm undecided on the resilvering. I have an offer to learn from an English master but am unsure if it is the right decision for this clock. On the other hand I also don't want to miss out on the opportunity of the in person instruction.

Would Brasso be considered a good quality brass polish?

 

[J. A. Olson]

Owing to limited space I opted to collect the mantel clocks. I do have some Borgfeldt 'Celebrate' mantel clocks which are of very good quality and were regularly promoted alongside the tubular bell chime Jacques hall clocks. Elegant cases and fantastic chimes, they were made in Germany at the HAC factory which was later amalgamated into Junghans. They turn up for sale regularly but some models in this line are rare.



These three were obtained throughout 2014. They were moved a few times, first from Fond du Lac to Beaver Dam, then from Beaver Dam out of state to Montana where I currently live. Would be great to go back to Wisconsin someday, it really was the ideal balance of nature and city life... Montana's pretty out in the distance.

I regularly use Brasso on tarnished surfaces and it's given good results. Make sure not to leave any residue behind.

 

[morpheyes]

Very fine examples. I see I need to learn more about Borgfeldt clocks.

 

[J. A. Olson]

Geo. Borgfeldt & Co. was an importer + orchestrater of clocks and did not do much in-house manufacturing. The Jacques clocks comprised of movements made by Mathias Bäuerle in Germany, tubular bells made by R. H. Mayland's company in Brooklyn, and some unspecified contractor for the cases - some claim it to be Herschede but nothing has popped up in trade literature or company archives.

The Celebrate mantel chime clocks were entirely made in Schramberg, Germany at the HAC factory to Borgfeldt's orders.
Prior to this, Borgfeldt imported standard HAC clocks which primarily revolved around 3/4 Westminster chimes.

There were also a variety of imported clocks from other companies including Kienzle and Winterhalder. They also sold torsion clocks made by Kundo. When Borgfeldt went into receivership in 1933, the company was reorganized into George Borgfeldt Corporation and ended all lines of chime clocks. Borgfeldt Corporation put more focus on other products besides clocks in the later years.

Geo. Borgfeldt & Co. did not publish many advertisements in the trade magazines but here are a few more showing the HAC, Jacques mantel, Winterhalder, and Kienzle clocks. I do not have any Borgfeldt ads showing the Celebrate line and am still on the search for these.