The Grandfather Clock Of My Childhood
Time waits for no man … or woman. The grandfather clock in my parent’s house stood in the corner of the dining room from the time of their marriage. This antique clock was a bargain at the purchase price of £5 at an auction when they first set up home and nearly 60 years later the grandfather clock is still a much loved part of the family. When they bought it, it was a pile of pieces on the floor of the auction house but my father did some clock repair on it and managed to get it working. I remember using the gap behind the grandfather clock for hide and seek (until I grew too big) and hiding my grandmother’s handbag in the case so she couldn’t go home one day! The gentle tick tock has been a comfort on many occasions, particularly on sleepless nights, the unmistakable grandfather clock chime letting me know the time without having to disturb anyone else. Children and grandchildren have all peeked inside to watch the pendulum swing or to watch Grandad going through the ceremony of winding the weights up each week at precisely 7.25 am on a Sunday. This was the only time in the morning he could fit the key into both the keyholes on the face because only then were the grandfather clock hands in the right place!
The grandfather clock has had its moments though! The mechanism has become temperamental with age and has undergone clock repair a number of times. When my parents moved 20 years’ ago, the grandfather clock went with them and they decided to have it cleaned and refurbished. The specialist who came to see it was intrigued because the case was a ‘modern’ one (remember this is an antique clock and probably means early 20th century). He was interested enough to take a photograph of the movement and send it to the British Museum. The response from the British Museum was a real surprise. Our much loved grandfather clock really wasn’t a grandfather clock at all! It had started off life as a wall clock, but it must have been a very large one.
The maker of our grandfather clock was a Dutchman called A. Fromanteel although we are not sure which one, the father Ahasuerus who came to England in 1620 and developed the pendulum clock in 1658 or Abraham, it certainly has a much finer pedigree than we do! From very scanty research on the internet we have found out that the Fromanteel family were innovators and were the first to produce a clock that was accurate and not affected by the weather. Each clock that they built had some new feature on it. Our own grandfather clock has a pillar movement although I know that the date feature no longer works.
Has this information made a difference to us? No. To us it is still the grandfather clock of our childhood, a comforting reminder of happy memories and life and time moving on.
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Watch and Clock Repair Services
In this hi-tech era time runs very fast giving you only few seconds to realize that the watch in your hand is stuck or broken. Moreover for people who hold fast to wearing of a wrist watch-finding a trustworthy watch repairer is pretty confusing. Nobody wants to give his/her branded exorbitant watch go into the hands who don’t value what it means to them.
Fixing a watch yourself is rather complex. It is a tricky job and can be done only by the experts who keep themselves updated by the new technologies of horology. Thus hiring such watch repairer experts is a good idea. A horology expert will follow specific procedures for testing the watch and will implement required techniques to get it work as efficiently as it used to before.
Clock repair is easier than watch repair. If you have an old grandfather clock in your home you can fix it by getting ideas from various sources. You can also look for some local clock repairers in your town or search the internet to find one.
Designer watch brands like Rolex, Omega Seiko, Armani, Timex, Rolex etc come standard with their own brand of parts. Thus these expensive watches should be handled exclusively by the manufacturers of the watch or an authorized dealer only. Those authorized to repair these specific designer will ensure you a high quality repair.
You can search for a particular brand watch repairing resource online also. This will make sure that your expensive piece is going in safe hands. No matter where you visit for your watch repair, the result should be the same. The function and look of your watch should be the same as it used to be before repair.
Mistal Time services is a leading online clock watch repair services providing branded Omega Seiko, Armani, Timex, Rolex Watch Repair and watch repairer facilities throughout UK.
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