Antique American Clocks January 2020
318. $100
Seth Thomas “Grand” alarm clock, ca. 1909. A 10-inch tall all-metal alarm clock featuring the
“Automatic Eight Day Long Alarm”. The brass drum housing the movement sits on a cast metal base with what appears to be a copper
sheath or coating; the catalog describes it as having a “Verde antique base” with a 7-inch gold dial, silver center, and raised black
numerals and minute dots. I think maybe someone polished the verde finish off the base; the glass in the bezel is appropriately
old. It has a signed 8-day time-and-alarm pendulum movement that strikes on a steel bell; it is running, keeping time, and the
alarm works but I’m not sure it alarmed at the right time. To be honest, I’m not sure how to correctly set the alarm, but there
is a key that winds the clock and turns the alarm shaft to set it. You can figure it out if your smartphone alarm fails. The back is covered by a brass screen that fits but I don’t think is original. Only a couple of sales that I could find in the
last decade, for around $150; one just sold on eBay for $110. $100-$200.