Having a grandfather clock in your house will help to complete the interior design of any room. Grandfather clocks are more than just an object to keep time in your home, they are a high quality piece of art. Place a grandfather clock for added elegancy and accuracy in your home.
Every part of a grandfather clock is remarkable and deserves a special attention. In this post, Premier Clocks would like to talk more about grandfather clock faces.
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Any grandfather clock has three parts - top, middle and bottom. Each part has its own features. Before we dive into learning more about grandfather clock faces, we would like to explain a bit about the top part of a grandfather clock.
The grandfather's clock top is called Hood or Bonnet and it carries the movement. The hood is consist of the Crown(the upper part) and the Face(the front part). The hood can be decorated with finials and ornaments. Often, a grandfather clock face has a glass door to protect the clock face.
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A grandfather clock face is the front part of a grandfather's clock hood that is located on the top part of a timepiece.
Traditionally, grandfather clocks have 12-hour faces with hour and minute hands, center disk and numerals. In addition, a clock face can have winding holes, chimes levers, a chapter ring, corner spandrels, a moon dial and an upper door.
The grandfather clock face is often referred as a dial. The clock dials can be decorated with ornamenting details giving them a unique look.
Most of grandfather clock faces are made of brass, wood and glass. When a clock face made of brass, it is often has elaborated decor. For the clocks with a wooden dial, it is common to have painted decoration and most likely to be found on the antique clock.
Just like anything else, grandfather clock faces have different types and styles.
A clock face in traditional style is made of brass and features corner and center ornaments. The dial includes a chapter ring with Arabic or Roman numerals as well as serpentine hour and minute hands. Since most of traditional grandfather clocks have mechanical movement, the clock dials will have three winding holes to rase the weights to keep powering the clock pendulum and the chimes levers.
When it comes to contemporary style, most of clock faces will offer a simple design. A white dial with black hour and minute hands are what you can find on a contemporary clock face. The common materials are wood, glass and metal. Contemporary grandfather clocks often power the clock pendulum with a quartz movement and winding holes are created for decorative purposes.
The face of an antique clock can be somewhat similar to the one of traditional style but it really depends on where and when the grandfather clock was made. For example, some antique clocks offer painted dials with floral motives while others have simple abstract decoration on the corners.
In addition to the clock dial, there can be a moon dial to track the phases of the moon through the 29 1/2 days of the lunar month. These dials show the lunar date and position of the moon in the sky.
A skeleton face of a grandfather clock is made out of glass and exposes the gear movement. This gives the opportunity to view the "skeleton" of the movement and how it works.
A Tempus Fugit clock face is a dial with the Latin term “Tempus Fugit” (Time Flies) embossed above or on it. This type of dials is quite common on grandfather clocks but this phrase is not a brand name, like Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, Ridgeway Grandfather Clocks and other grandfather clocks brands.
To set the time on a grandfather clock, you need to move only the minute hand counterclockwise (backwards) until hour and minute hand are at the correct time. The hour hand will move automatically when the minute hand is moved.
Cleaning the face of a grandfather clock is better to leave for a clock expert. But if it is impossible then you can try using a lightweight vacuum cleaner but do not ever use a blowing instrument.
Do not clean grandfather clock face with a wet cloth nor do not use polish. To clean the glass door that protects the dial of a grandfather clock, it’s better to use a clean paper towel and spray the glass cleaner on the towel, not on the glass.
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If you need any additional information about grandfather clock faces or need assistance with a grandfather clock selection, do not hesitate to contact our team.
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