This Schatz standard 400 day clock is from 1953 and has several unusual features:
- The movement has 2 jewel bearings (most standard size movements have no jewels). The jewel bearings don’t affect how well the clock works, and may have been a sales feature;
- It has an auxiliary mainspring and barrel on the 4th gear. Some clocks from the early 1950s have this, they were trying to make the timekeeping stay more constant as the clock ran down. It was not successful;
- The top of the clock has a handle that goes through a hole in top of the glass dome;
- The anchor of the escapement has adjustable pallets (most Schatz standard movements have a solid body anchor with non-adjustable pallets).
The adjustable pallet anchor is not really a good feature, as it tempts a tinkerer to move the pallets, putting the escapement out of adjustment. The factory set the pallets correctly, and they do not need adjustment. The photos below show the adjustable pallet anchor and a regular, solid body anchor.
Repair job 6614. I polished the pivots, put the anchor in beat, and installed a new 0.004 inch thick suspension spring. Movement date 6 53 (June 1953). Horolovar back plate number 1287.
Share this post:
Mark, I’ve seen cracked or chipped jewels that cut the pivot, but I don’t recall seeing a worn jewel. That is amazing, to see one worn to 3 pivot diameters! A few years ago, I replaced a couple jewels with brass bushings. If I remember correctly, one of the KWM-size bushings has the correct outside diameter and fits right in (or needed minimal reaming). I think the jewels were a marketing ploy, and a brass bushing works just as well. (I did visit my local watchmaker, but he didn’t have any jewels that would fit.)
I wonder if the jewel material must have been defective to have worn so much?
Yes, jewels. I’ve been struggling with a Schatz miniature model 53 that’s been running poorly despite endless adjustment. But tonight I discovered why: who knew that those pallet pivot jewels could wear out? It’s the back-plate jewel, worn oval at least three pivot diameters.
I’m thinking of just replacing the fool thing with an honest brass bushing, because I can’t imagine that anyone has one. I did, however, send an e-mail to The Horolovar Company to see if their vast staff of clockmakers has any ideas.
I suppose I should mention that The Horolovar Company, mother church of the 400-day clock, isn’t nearly as exotic and inaccessible as I’d thought. They’re 2 miles away, over on the west side of Lancaster next to the drug store, and Chris Nimon, John, and Heidi the Horolovar Dog have been friends for a couple of years now.
The collection of 400-day clocks he’s got–mostly to use for parts–is utterly amazing.
They get the suspension spring wire on 12-inch rolls and spend odd moments clipping and packing those. They also have a little stamping setup to make blocks and forks.
Have you ever had to replace a jewel in a clock?