Here’s an interesting clock I recently repaired. The round Japanese movement has two unusual features: stopworks and “up and down” indicators. I explain these features below. I like this kind of movement, I’ve seen it in various maker’s clocks. They run well after repair. Most don’t have the up and down indicator, but many have the stopworks feature.
The movement is stamped:
MONTGOMERY WARD & CO.
NO (0) JEWELS
UNADJUSTED
JAPAN
This clock is 19 1/5″ tall and 12 1/4″ wide. It strikes the hour and half-hour on a coil gong.
Repair job 8767. Repairing this clock was like repairing many other types of clock. It has rack and snail striking like typical German clocks. The biggest challenge is in handling the long, long mainsprings. They are about 14 feet long, and have a curved (instead of flat) cross-section, making them open way out when taken out of the movement (see the 4th and 5th pictures above). Some pivots were chrome or nickel plated. The pivot file took the plating off, then the steel burnishers gave them a beautifully polished surface. I installed 13 bushings.
The escapement is a deatbeat, with the pallets formed of a bent steel strip. The pallet surfaces are at right angles to the pallet body.
Interesting Features of This Clock
“Stopworks” allow use of the most uniform part of the mainspring’s range. They limit how far you can wind the mainspring, and how far it can run down. I set these so when the clock is fully wound, the mainsprings are unwound 1/2 turn from fully wound. This prevents the oil from being squeezed from between the coils. Relatively few clocks have stopworks. Some of the earlier Gilbert kitchen clocks do, as well as some Seth Thomas clocks. Precision clocks often have stopworks.
An “up and down indicator” shows how far run down a clock or watch is. Some antique pocket watches and a few self-winding wrist watches have this feature. In this clock, the indicators are small round openings beside the winding squares, with a three color shutter behind them. They show blue when the clock is fully wound, the same color as the dial from slightly unwound until nearly run down, and show red when the clock needs winding.
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