Antique clocks: what to check before buying

A clock is an assembly of three objects: a case, a dial and a movement. The first reflex is to check that they are contemporary with each other, which is not always true after two centuries of repairs.

Open the back. The movement should be signed or numbered, the plates clean without crude solder, and the screws original — a modern cross-head screw on a nineteenth-century plate is a clear signal.

Finally, ask whether the clock has been serviced and when. A running movement, recently oiled, is worth far more than a beautiful case holding a mechanism seized for thirty years.