Antique American Clocks July 2020
28. $2500
Southern Calendar Clock Co. “Fashion No. 8”, ca. 1887. This is a very late model and
a very scarce model. The key difference with the No. 8 is the two rosettes inset into the inner door. Otherwise it uses
the standard walnut case (with a full hood). The 32-inch case is in excellent condition, with three original finials. The door glass is old and has the proper lettering. The painted metal dials are old, possibly original, with correct hands;
there is some inpainting to the time dial and some of the numbering has been strengthened on the calendar dial. The seconds
bit dial is yellowed paper, and the calendar rollers are very yellowed and dark. The 8-day time-and-strike movement is signed
Seth Thomas and “Made solely for the Southern Calendar Clock Co.” This the standard long-drop pendulum movement they were making
in the later years for SCCC. This example strikes on a large nickel bell. It is running, a bit delicately, and striking;
the calendar is advancing. Because the presumably original dials are not labeled with the manufacturer/marketer it is not clear
which company – ST or SCCC – was selling this model. There are some differences in the parts used in various examples of this
model, suggesting that it was at the end of a production period. Another very difficult model to find in good condition, and
one that is easy to fake by modifying a No. 5 door. This example came from a highly regarded collector of Fashion clocks. Described on page 290 of Ly’s book Calendar Clocks. $2500-$4000.
There is some discussion of the dial on this clock; it appears
that Fashion No. 8’s with both a flat dial (as found in the Fashion 4V) and with a sunken second bits dial (as found here) have been
found. It may well be that both types of dials were used, as this model was made at the end of the Seth Thomas Fashion production
run and they may have been using up stock.
