Late 19th-Century English Bracket Clock
Watch
GUEST:
I got this in an estate sale about ten years ago here in Austin. Really, really liked the way it looked. I thought it was very unusual. I took it to a clock maker and they told me it had a triple fusee movement and had a verge clutch, which I'm not really sure what that all means, but anyway, that's what I know.
APPRAISER:
And what did you pay for it at the auction ten years ago?
GUEST:
It was an estate sale, and I got it for $600. They wanted $800 for it and I kind of talked them down a little bit.
APPRAISER:
Oh, that's great, I mean, what an attractive clock it is. It's massive, very impressive. It's a Gothic style, probably would have been displayed in a public office, like a bank. It's just sort of oversized and it has this wonderful dial. It's an English bracket clock, is what we call it. It was made in the last quarter of the 19th century.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It's a three train movement, meaning it's quarter striking. It strikes every 15 minutes. (bell chimes)
GUEST:
And there it goes.
APPRAISER:
And there it goes right there, yeah, it's talking to me now. It also plays a Westminster chime, one that's really nice to listen to. And that's what the three winding arbors are all about. One runs the time, one powers the strike, which is the hour on the hour, and the other one powers the Westminster chime, and it also has this "chime silent" indicator up here, so you can shut it off if you had company over and it was too loud, because it plays on these magnificent gongs. This is a retailer down here, this W. Hislop, London, and Tunbridge Wells. He was a retailer of the clock, not the maker. We really don't know who the maker was.
GUEST:
That's why I never found any information.
APPRAISER:
It's really not signed. The case is all oak. It just has a wonderful presence. Do you have any idea of the value at all?
GUEST:
I have no idea. I was hoping that it would be worth more than what I paid for it, obviously, but you know...
APPRAISER:
Well, it is. It's a clock that in a retail situation would sell in the $2,000 to $2,500 range today.
GUEST:
Wow, fantastic.
Appraisal Details
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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