Little has been done to publicize horology as a hobby. My name is simon bean, i have been restoring antique clock dials for some years and offer full satisfaction with the quality of my work. The only difference before and after is the cleaning and the restoration. Parts of the dial such as the batons or numbers can either be polished or completely replated depending on the requirements of the customer. Since the owner did not want to pay to have it replated we repainted the dial pan and glued down a proper dial replacement. Porcelain watch and clock dial repair advanced clock service. Dial materials, cleaning techniques, restoring various types of dials. Staying true to the ways of the original dial painters, we only ever use paint, not ink, unlike many other inexpert restorers. Even with this type of damage, our bookbinders employ what we call a splice. Last, but by no means least, my special thanks go to mr s.
Clear and concise guide to everything antique clock related for the professional as well as the newbie from case restoration to glass and dial painting and a. Usa, the clock maker at gwathmey, ashland, va, dial repair and restoration. View samples of my work select one of the dials restoration services contact me. Please use appropriate caution with vendor sites which do not provide locations or phone numbers. Porcelain watch and clock dial repair advanced clock repair. True restoration, fine artist specializing in quality repair and reproduction since 1980. Unlike ink, paint will not need to be varnished, and more importantly, will not smudge. Apr 27, 2006 the main thing i think is to keep the original dial behind the repo dial protected for the next owner. Our dial restoration service is only provided if required, alongside clock or movement restoration. When completely dry the dial is carefully varnished, and the winding hole grommets are cleaned or replaced.
My father, brian loomes, was interested in the then neglected history of painted dial clock. Aa clockcraft, bridlington, east riding, repair, restoration and conservation of clocks and barometers. A 1960s seiko automatic 6216a restoration and full service watch repair tutorial duration. Collecting vintage watches isnt for the fainthearted. Replacing a damaged crystal with a correct, original crystal is good practice as it ensures the dial, hands, and movement are protected. Watch repair books staff making repivoting this watch repair book has complete directions for making and fitting new staffs from raw materials. Junghans mystery clock dial cleaning incident nawcc message. Paper dial restorationcleaning nawcc message board. It was considered that such a book was badly needed and all concerned wished it every success. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. At the clockmakers workshop in dereham, dial restorations can be undertaken as part of your clock restoration or we can offer a postal service simply email a picture of. Buy restoring grandfather clocks reprinted ed by eric smith, brian smith. Restoration and manufacture of dials is a major part of the cumbria clock company work, much of which can be undertaken using rope access equipment, thereby avoiding the cost of scaffolding.
Pleasants who has done so much in producing original drawings and preparing illustrations for publication, frequently, i might. In most of the dial restoration work we refer, the typeface match is perfect. Indepth four tips to spot and avoid a restored dial. Porter, hartley wintney, hants, watch and clock repairs. I once had a seth thomas cottage clock that was a very nice clock although the dial had some marks on it so i made a reproduction that was by all accounts perfect and was told that by several friends. Except for sites in the nawcc domains, the nawcc does not endorse any of these sites or the products or services that may be offered. The starting point for researching a clockmaker is a book called watch and clockmakers of the world. Virtually none of these clocks is beyond repair, and often the work required is within the scope of inexperienced owners. It may not be possible to match a dial plate to the exact original specifications, but it will be as near a match as is possible.
There are many, many things that can go wrong if one doesnt know what to look out for wrong movements, crowns, hands, frankenwatches the list goes on. His early research resulting in the white dial clock and later white dial clocks and painted dial clocks has been the cornerstone for all later books on the. This can be caused by the movement being mounted crooked in the case, the case back being warped or the dial not being attached properly to the movement. This book is good for the complete novice only it is very simplistic and very basic i guess this relates to the title first reader for any one with some knowledge of clocks this book is not for you there is plenty of very good books on clock repair which provide the essential basics and progress to very useful information on the actual repair and restoration. Where additional skills are required, such as gilding, enamel dial restoration and cabinet work on cases, qualified specialists. Usa, astrid donnellan, hingham, ma, clock dial and glass restoration. This is another lengthy chapter that presents a broad range of information including. This is a scottish longcase dial before restoration. It is an intricate process which involves cleaning and. A third division deals with the repair, restoration, and conservation of old used.
Eric smith author, brian smith author the grandfather clock first appeared in the late seventeenth century. At the clockmakers workshop in dereham, dial restorations can be undertaken as part of your clock restoration or we can offer a postal service simply email a picture of your dial for a no obligation no cost estimate. Usa, the clockmaster, orange, ca, watch dial restoration and watch dial repair services. A number of special tools used for dial restoration are presented in this chapter. You can see the first step of the cleaning process where only the rim of the dial has been cleaned. We have developed a clock dial restoration procedure to return the polished brass pieces back to their original appearance with a varying degree of patination representing how the originally silvered pieces would have aged properly over time. Based on clockmakers newsletter articles published from 19872008. An illustrated howto guide for the beginner kelly, harold c. I found on a junghans dedicated portal that those kind of marks where insert in addiction after the production to indicate the german series and distribution. Well finished and furnished with a solid adjusting nut for fine setting.
Complete brass dial restoration and conservation are offered. Clock dial restoration posted in dial restoration on january 2nd 2014 0 comments the dial is the focal point of the clock and it obviously has to be readable at a distance for the clock to perform its duty, ie. Many will say that to do such a thing is inadvisable without proper training. This is partly due to the time needed to restore an individual dial. Unfortunately, after removing the paint we found that that the original brass plating was missing. Tuesthurs from 10am3pm is the best time to reach us. The greeks used to call their books tome, meaning to cut. If you find any of our products cheaper elsewhere, let us know and well do our best to beat it. My watchmaker cleaned a lot of enameled junghans mystery dial and never had a problem. This well known work by g bailie and b loomes has just 2006 been republished with over 20,000 new entries, so it now carries brief details of over one hundred thousand makers. Clock repair and restoration fix your clock fastest than.
Clock books grandfather clock repair books clock repair. Antique book restoration makes books with significant damage beautiful again. We generally restore the dial to as close to the original design as possible. Armed with this book and appropriate tools for work on both movement and. There have been many books written on the repair of watches and clocks but the majority have been intended for the serious horologist and the apprentice. It is preferred to remove the dial from the church and transport it back to the workshops. Our inhouse service center has extensive experience in watch dial restoration. Painted dial clocks and clock dial restoration have been my familys business since 1966.
We at green and cockburn antique restoration undertake dial restoration to the highest standard. Dial restoration is the renewal of the watch dial by specialists. Clock dial restoration is a labor of love and i do all the restoration work myself. Buy clock repair, a beginners guide third printing by beilby, ian isbn. Longcase painted dials and white dials professionally and sympathetically restored as original. Clock dials, clock dial repair, clock dial restoration. A tapered pin or retaining clip missing from a dial post, a loose or bent dial foot or a bent or otherwise distorted dial are sometimes at fault. Buy clock repairers manual manual of techniques 1st edition by mick watters isbn.