# Enfield Striking Mantel Clock



## AVO

I went to Beccles yesterday and walked into this little antique shop and this took my eye immediately.

"Thirty-five pounds," she said. So I talked a fiver off and took a punt.



















A bit of research seems to indicate that it would date from between 1932, when Enfield started producing clocks, and 1949 when they started using the Smiths-Enfield logo.










The innards look fine. The pendulum is beating at 3 per second, so 10800bph, and it is keeping very good time. The gong strike (half-hour strike and hour count) has a nice deep note, but was very loud...thanks to the acoustic damping properties of good old Blu-Tack it now has a nice soft mellow strike.










I have no idea what the numbers pencilled inside the door refer to? Anyone seen anything similar?

19012H

R5462

U/EH/U

C4910










I know these were not particularly sophisticated pieces, but as a nice piece of British history, everybody's Aunt Hilda and Uncle George had something similar on the mantelpiece. Not bad for 30 quid!

My house is now starting to sound like the Clockmakers' Museum; unlike watches they are noisy and take up space, so I can't afford to go totally mad. I do like them, though!


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## JWL940

That would get a tick in the box from me AVO; here's my similar looking item.










No pendulum but 5 minutes in the garage with a bit of brass and a nut and bolt soon had one fabricated so it was nice seeing yours to see what it should have looked like! The case is Bakelite which needed an hour with some metal polish to return it to its former glory when it arrived from a famous internet auction site. I am guessing it's 50s/60s but would be happy to be corrected. My 'collection' has been banished from the living room, they are a tad noisy aren't they?


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## AVO

Noisy...that's a timepiece! Don't tell me your good lady doesn't like tickers!

Loving the hands on that one...trÃ¨s Ã©lÃ©gant! :thumbup:

The broad arrow looks like a British military issue. I wonder what they were used for? Offices & mess rooms, I guess?


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## andyclient

JWL that is very similar to mine , but mine is a striking model and marked Smiths Enfield so made later when the two merged I guess , like the broad arrow military connection with yours , very cool .

ps the shelf is straight its my camera that was wonky lol

pps felt sure i had a spare pendulum but can't find it at the mo although i did get rid off some mantle clocks, if i find one i'll message you


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## tixntox

Enfield? Is that a 350 or a 500 then! 

Mike


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## andyclient

Don't know but her indoors would shoot me every time it chimes though


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## tixntox

andyclient said:


> Don't know but her indoors would shoot me every time it chimes though


I have a 400 day anniversary clock which I resurrected "from the dead" which only ticks once every few seconds (as it should of course) and I struggle to get away with that!

Mike


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## JWL940

Thanks Andy

I've a bid on a pendulum on the Bay at the moment, all of 99p! If I am feeling flush I might even double it  towards the end of the auction. Thanks for your very kind offer though. I have to admit it was the 'crows foot' that attracted me to the clock. It was really manky when it turned up but was soon made ready for CO's inspection and it's running a treat at the moment. Our cases look very similar so I guess they can't be too far apart date wise with yours being slightly older. My next Smiths project is a Bakelite wall clock, much more cosmetic work is needed and a clean of the clockwork as well.

John


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## AVO

I shall have to get a longcase with a 1 second pendulum. That beat is just so cool!

Last year I was in the Clockmaker's Museum in the Guildhall, the only visitor at midday, when all the started chiming & striking over about 2 minutes. Magical!

Anyway, pendulums...they sometimes appear on eBay.

Edit: too late for that info! :lol:


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## JWL940

Damn

I used to go to central London regularly and my meeting was over by lunchtime and only now I learn of the Watchmaker's Museum! Years ago the was a good horological section in the Science Museum, that might also be worth checking out again sometime.


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## AVO

JWL940 said:


> Damn
> 
> I used to go to central London regularly and my meeting was over by lunchtime and only now I learn of the Watchmaker's Museum! Years ago the was a good horological section in the Science Museum, that might also be worth checking out again sometime.


Also exremely good - and you have the Harrisons 1-4 at Greenwich too!


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## JWL940

AVO said:


> Also exremely good - and you have the Harrisons 1-4 at Greenwich too!


I can see the making of a City Break here. Oh how impressed will 'she' be when I tell her?


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## AVO

Dump her in Oxford Street for a while. Oh, and you've also got the British Museum and the vintage watch dealers of Mayfair.


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## AVO

A week on:

Wound last Sunday and still going strong. After a bit of fiddling with the pendulum nut I've got it to under half a minute per day. I've also experimented with a pair of pliers on the hammer rod to achieve a lighter strike - the Blu-Tack made it quiet but rather heavy and dead. Sounds good now.

In short, I like it!


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## JWL940

Nice one AVO! I've achieved something similar with my nut and bolt pendulum, hopefully I'll have the real deal in a couple of days then I'll see if I can improve upon that. I wonder if the summer weather will affect the time keeping? If anything I expect it'll run a little slower (pendulum rod expands) or will it be too minuscule to measure?

I suggested dumping my wife in Oxford Street for a while, she's up for that but unsurprisingly my credit card came into the conversation! Back to the drawing board.


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## Shiner

My main interest is American pocket watches, but I do have three clocks. The wife insists that they are all in one room so she does't have to listen to them ticking her life away, so they are all in the dining room. There's one longcase and two two wall clocks. The longcase is a thirty hour clock but I've disabled the strike side so I only need to wind it once a week instead of every day. It dates to about 1800 and was a presentation gift and has the original brass plaque on the door. It's in lovely condition and keeps good time. It gains just about a minute a week. Not bad for a clock that's over two hundred years old.


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## Shiner

This is the presentation plaque.


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## Shiner

The other two clocks are quite modern, but good quality and were gifts from family members. One is a very nice weight and spring driven wall regulator with strike and chimes, and the other is a brass cased striking ships bulkhead clock. Both are eight day so I only need to wind all three once a week. The Sunday morning ritual


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## Shiner

And the ships brass clock.


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## AVO

Lovely threesome there, Shiner, especially the longcase. Looks like you judged the ceiling cornice just right.

Now what is it about women and clocks? I just don't get it!


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## andyclient

Shiner said:


> And the ships brass clock.


A Schatz Royal Mariner i do believe i have one of those in my hall pretty well next to a Cased spring driven regulator type to.

Sorry about the awful pics just grabbed them quickly


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## Shiner

Andyclient,

That's right. It sounds the bells for the 4 hour watches. I never did like the middle watch.


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## NDMM

I have this same clock, if anyone is in the market? South Devon, UK


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