Home and Living

Antique wall clocks are considered to be an heirloom. They give the room an elegant and traditional appearance. There are two types of wall clocks based on the movements. The movements are mechanical key-wound movement and quartz movement. The quartz movement clocks are battery operated and not considered as an heirloom.

Functioning of Mechanical key-wound wall clocks – the heirloom clocks:

Key-wound wall clocks are referred to a spring driven or cable driven since they are powered by weights that hang on cables or with springs. The mechanical clocks are wound with a key. The weights and springs power the clock for seven days. On the eight-day the clocks need to be wound again by inserting the keys into the holes in the dial. The mechanical clocks have three holes or winding arbor in the dial and each has a specific function. The right hole, while facing the clock regulates the clock chimes and the left hole regulates the hour strikes. Some wall clocks may have only one or two holes. Mechanical wall clock that does not have holes in the dial can be wound by manually pulling on chains that the weights hang from. The mechanical clocks need to wound every seven days. However they are often referred to as an “eight-day clock”. The timekeeping function of mechanical wall clocks is regulated with the help of pendulum. Key-wound wall clocks most often produce the traditional Westminster chime that is played on metal rods, coils or brass bells. The key-wound mechanical wall clocks are durable and are known as heirloom timepiece.

Quartz wall clocks

Quartz clocks are electronic version of mechanical wall clock. Quartz clocks are battery operated so have limited life. So they are not considered as an heirloom piece. However quartz clocks offer a sophisticated attractiveness and have an electronic version of traditional chiming melodies. Compared to mechanical wall clocks the quartz clocks require less maintenance.

Wall clocks are available in both traditional and contemporary designs. For traditionally architectured home the market offers mechanical wall clocks and quartz clocks for contemporary homes. Howard miller wall clocks are famous for their traditional key wound and contemporary quartz clocks. Howard Miller mechanical clocks are considers as true heirloom. The quartz clocks of Howard Miller also have some of the features of the mechanical key-wound clocks. Hermle clocks are also famous for their mechanical and quartz wall clocks. Today quartz wall clocks are popular and they come in a variety of styles and designs. You have fish and animal clocks, martini clocks and many more varieties.