Thomas Weeks Regulator, ca. 1800
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GUEST:
Well, I was visiting my father-in-law, and I found it upside down on its back with its legs off on top of the pantry, and I asked him about it, and he said I should take it home. But it really was his father's clock.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
His father was Anglo-Irish, came over from Ireland at, at the end of the 19th century, and lived in New York City, and loved antiques. And this was a piece that he, he bought and he had throughout his whole life.
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
He loved it. It says on the face of it, it says it's Weeks, from London, and so I know that it's Weeks, and maybe Thomas Weeks from Coventry Street, London, England. But most of that's coming right off the face.
APPRAISER:
I think that the clock probably dates from about 1800. This maker, Thomas Weeks, was known for his clocks made in the French taste, and that's what we have here today. He made statue clocks and different things that the London makers typically were not making, and that's what makes this clock exciting. You'll notice it has three hands. In addition to the minute and hour hand, you have a sweep secondhand. The clockmaker that would make a clock with a center-sweep secondhand, he was sort of showing off. That feature kicks it up a little bit. We have the satinwood case with ebony. Originally, the gilding was a little bit brighter. You are missing the little finial that topped off the clock. Overall, the condition is very good. But this guy, he was about the mechanics, also. He had a museum with his establishment in a natural history museum. So he was also showing off these mechanical marvels that he was producing and things that he had acquired, along with things out of natural history. He was capable of producing the best. He also was renowned for making these high-grade cases. The movement is just a jewel. He was at the top of his game. This is a timepiece, and what a timepiece means-- it just keeps time, it does not strike. You'll see what we call the escape wheel. So we call that an outside-the-plate escapement, and it's what we call deadbeat escapement. That was a superior form of escapement. Notice also the quality, the engraving on the back plate of the movement. It is superior. It's all part of just doing the best. And it's neat to see these people that were making these things that were marvels at a time when people were working by the light of day with very rudimentary machinery. Used to have a door sort of keyed into this rabbeted edge and was tied off with a, a little nut that you would unscrew and access the pendulum. Those things can all be repaired. A lot of times, we'll refer to these as a gentleman's table regulator. Value. If I saw this clock in just this as-is condition right here, I'd expect to see this clock sell for about $6,000 retail.
GUEST:
Hmm.
APPRAISER:
But in restored condition, if you threw a couple of thousand dollars at it and had someone that was really good, gosh, I'd see this in London sell for $10,000, $12,000.
GUEST:
(exhales)
APPRAISER:
As I use the phrase "jewel box." That's what this clock is, a jewel box.
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