Learn About Floor Clocks

Floor clocks or “grandfather clocks” evolved from Wall clocks. The English clockmaker William Clement is noted as creating the style in 1670. In an effort to increase the accuracy of time pieces, craftsmen increased the length of the pendulum and thus making the cabinets longer and longer. The long cases were eventually made to sit on the ground rather than hang from the wall. Modern floor clocks are usually of a few different styles with ornate carvings of burling of wooden cases, commonly around six to eight feet tall. Glass is often beveled, and weights are most often covered in brass casings. A moon dial often adorns the top of these time pieces that is able to represent the phase of the moon in the sky. Chimes and striking of rods is the most common way to play the melodic tunes representing parts of the hour, although some pieces have long, deep tubes that reverberate tunes similar to cathedrals of Europe.

CHIMES

The chimes of a floor clock are either played on long-reaching rods and struck by small hammers or more rarely by use of tubular bells. Rod chimes produce a higher pitched sound than their tubular bell counterpart. Tubular bells sound the most similar to the cathedral-like sounds they are meant to mimic. To learn more about chimes in clocks and to hear a selection of them, view the chimes page.

THE MOON DIAL

From the beginning of time men were aware of the power of the sun and the moon. They saw the effect of these celestial bodies on their lives, their crops, and their success in hunting. They noted the relationships with the tides and the seasons. They calculated time by the moon's phases speaking of "so many moons ago." While the sun streamed across the heavens each day and seemed constant in its course and appearance, they observed that the moon was ever changing. As a consequence it is small wonder that many tribes and nations were quick to make the sun their god and the moon their goddess. The priests of these cults intensively studied the motions of their deities and made records of their findings. In the Valley of the Euphrates, the studies of the priests of Chaldea laid the foundations for the science of astronomy. Their calculations were so exact that the most precise studies of today, in regard to the length of the year, vary only slightly from the findings of the scientists of Darius The Great, who based their estimates on Chaldean records. The observations of these priests also led to the development of astrology, which fitted in very well with their magical rites. The belief they engendered in the influence of heavenly bodies made the position of the moon and the stars in the skies of great importance to men. This faith in the signs of the zodiac persists, in some degree, even today, but in ancient and medieval times few affairs of importance were ever undertaken unless these signs were favorable. As the timing of so many actions hinged on the moon's position there was a constant effort to invent time keeping mechanisms that would also show the lunar phases.

EARLY MOON DIALS

Many early clocks showed great ingenuity in recording this celestial data. This was particularly true of the fourteenth century Italian clocks made by Dondis. Showing surpassing workmanship, these mechanisms frequently indicated not only the hour but also the movements of the sun, moon and planets in addition to showing the yearly festivals.

Besides its other wonders, the famous clock of Abbou Hammou II, Sultan of Tlemeen, showed the moon's globe turning in a great circle and marking its natural course in the heavens during any particular night.

THE MODERN MOON DIAL

Above the time dial, a traditional moon dial gives modern floor clock an added note of intriguing interest. Each phase of the moon is indicated. There are often two colorful scenes, sea and landscape, one for each half of a revolving disc. On each scene there is a moon. Above the disc is an arch, graduated to the lunar or moon month of 29 & 1/2 days (not to be confused with the calendar month). At each end of the arch there is a hemisphere, representing the earth. The moon face first appears over the left, or Western Hemisphere. As the disc progresses, the quarters of the new moon come into view until the moon is clear of the Western Hemisphere, when it is full. Then the moon disappears in back of the right or Eastern Hemisphere. In turn, the sequences register each lunar phase - new moon, first quarter, half moon, third quarter and old moon.

CARE AND MAINTENANCE

Battery powered clocks will run for roughly a year on their batteries. We recommend changing them when resetting the clock for daylight savings time each year. Mechanical clocks, much like a care should be relubricated periodically. For clocks, that period is once every 2-3 years. To learn more about clock care and maintenance, visit the basic clock care page.