CUCKOO CLOCK REPAIRS at Horologica. AFFORDABLE Clock Repair Service

cuckoo clock repair

I have to admit to not having much experience of Cuckoo clocks. Often bearing brightly coloured birds and trees, I always saw them as a bit of a novelty clock for the tourist trade made from mass-produced, and often pressed out metal parts so I didn't treat them seriously.

Then I chanced upon a couple. The first one was part of an auction lot that included a filthy but very interesting torsion clock that I recognised as an early Gustav Becker model. I left the plain cuckoo clock in the carton that it arrived in while all my attention was focussed on the Becker. But a few months later I took it out to check it over and not surprisingly I found that it would not work properly. Getting the going side was easy enough but the strike train was more complex so I enjoyed the challenge. Then a couple of years later, a friend brought me another one to repair - a brightly coloured one but it was a family heirloom so I couldn't refuse. I already had a copy of 'Black Forest Clockmaker and the Cuckoo Clock' by Karl Kochmann (reproduced by Clockworks Press) which not only helps in the art of repairing these curious clocks, but also gives a lot of history and sparked my interest in them.

Both of the ones I've encountered were relatively modern - probably 1930s and 1950s I guess - and made similar to a Victorian automaton with a musical box - indeed, the one for repair incorporated a musical box that initially left me stumped as I'd never touched one before. So I enjoyed that new experience. But Kochmann opened my eyes to the early cuckoo clocks, which aren't like that at all and there's a thriving collectors' market in them. Good original ones fetch very high prices despite the somewhat basic or agricultural movements fitted to them.

Most cuckoo clocks only run for a day between windings and they still need plenty of wall space as the chains are quite long. But if you have a growing clock collection, one of these clocks would make a fascinating addition, though I don't know if I would want one with a musical box as my only clock in a room.

With limited experience, I'd be happy to help anyone with a cuckoo clock that refuses to run. I'm not going to offer a fixed price repair on them because I don't yet know enough about them. But if you're really stuck for a low-cost repairer, and it's important to you to get it going, then email me and I'll see what I can do. All paid for work is guaranteed for a year.

essex clock repair service

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