cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
21042
Winding Time in New York, Part I
What's a Tourist Purist to do when visiting NYC?
I did the normal thing and requested info from my peers on this site. Thank you very much for the watch shops, antique shops and other suggestions (Swatch, Wempe, etc.)
Today I'd like to report on the activity suggested by my Chronoswiss-wearing, bi-coastal friend Jane.
She handed me a beer and this book (interesting things to do in NYC).
Wow - get involved in winding a NYC landmark clock! Free. The building was just a few blocks from her apartment in Tribeca.
Here's the Broadway Clock Tower building; former HQ of New York Life:
Here's the clock.
Joining me on this tour are Mrs Cazalea and Jane.
Here's our guide, Forest Markowitz.
Forest used to be a manager of the NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation, and managed their operations in this old building (which was mostly storage).
The walls were painted industrial gray and brown.
Forest discovered marble, tiger oak and beautiful cast pillars underneath, and directed the clean-up and restoration of many rooms.
In the process, he and his friend Marvin Schneider discovered that the Howard tower clock (although stopped for many years) was still intact.
So they cleaned, restored and restarted it. In the process, Marvin eventually became a NYC clockmaster, responsible for many city clocks.
Shall we proceed?
I'm sorry I cannot replicate the heat and humidity for you, but drape a hot wet towel over your head if you want to simulate our actual conditions...
We take elevator the up 12 or 13 floors. Proceed through the AIR gallery. Unlock the secret door.
Go up a few more staircases, and peer into the closet that holds the spare hands, and encloses the bottom of the pendulum.
Climb a few more flights up a rickety winding staircase.
Climbing through the ceiling, we discover the clock.
We find a little wooden room, and inside is the Howard clock movement.
Only the bottom dial and one gear have been replaced, in over 120 years.
Shall we continue? Go on to Part II
This message has been edited by cazalea on 2012-09-03 07:13:00
Winding Time in New York, Part I
What's a Tourist Purist to do when visiting NYC? I did the normal thing and requested info from my peers on this site. Thank you very much for the watch shops, antique shops and other suggestions (Swatch, Wempe, etc.) Today I'd like to report on the activ...
Where is part II where is it???? :))
Awesome so far and it only begins Thank you Mike for showing another facet of my dream city Damjan
Winding Time in New York, Part II
Ok, we are in the clock tower. We are inspecting the movement of the Howard clock. They use jars of original lubricant! This 120-yr-old motor winds the clock. It pulls three sets of enormous weights up about 50 feet. The weights power the movement, and th...
Original lubricant, or . . .
. . . original jars , refilled with Valvoline? :-) Somewhere in the world, there's an ancient drum of Howard's clock lube sitting around, and the owner either doesn't know what to do with it, or doesn't realize there's still a viable market for the stuff....
Both
Hi Art, There was a box full of olde bottles like that on the floor, I think. I didn't ask specifically, but he said they got some spare bits including the dial, just before the Howard factory closed back in the '80's. We did do a little "recycling" of th...
Surprised that ...
... the lubricant has not deteriorated. Really wonderful post, Mike. Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Yet another reason to visit New York. Warm regards, Andrew
Winding Time in New York, Part III
Thanks for following along on my New York clock winding tour. Here is the video of the clock As Forest says in the video, after the weights have bottomed out (used up all their energy) and then been rewound, the clock strikes 12 and automatically resets i...
Wow! Having lived in NY for 17 years, never thought of...
... such thing possible! Great try and report, cazalea! Wonderful found. Thank you for your endeavor in the hot and humid environment. And my hats off to the machine which has been working for a long time in such environment. Excellent! Ken
Interesting...
Having grown up in Queens, New York, I never knew stuff like this could be visited, etc. I now live in Colorado and worked with some of the folks from a local NAWCC chapter on the E. Howard tower clock at South High School in Denver, Colorado, a few years...
fascinating wind up.
You wont get me up those little ladders even for an experience like ths. Great pics as usual Mike. Have a good time G
Wow!
Great adventure! We will now direct a lot of clock questions to you! Thanks for documenting and sharing your experience!
Wonderful!
Nice to see some old school horology on here once in a while, historical items are very appreciated. I can't believe they have original lubricant bottles! Definitely something I will do next time I travel to New York, thanks for the article.
Fun tourist destination
Didn't know that there is a tour like this in NYC. Looks like fun and would be a great experience for watch PuristS. Thanks for sharing this fun event. Regards, ED-209
Many thanks...
A clock person says Thank You I love these old turret clocks. There's something very gentle about the way the gravity escapement gently nudges the 4m pendulum - totally different to the frenetic activity of a watch anchor escapement. Alex
Wonderful article! And good to see that NY honours private initiative, unlike ....
... Paris, where a private - and lege artis - restoration of the Pantheon's old clock led to legal action against the restorers, and the refusal of the Pantheon's administration to wind the repaired clock, so it is still silent. http://www.urban-resources...
Pathetic
that parisians would act that way toward their own horological history. Applause for the restorers!
Bureaucrats not Parisians...
Minor correction... Many, if not most, Parisians would be in favour of the restoration, and would certainly approve of the clandestine way it was done. The problem is with the self-important, pompous, faceless, mindless, idiotic, lazy, over-paid bureaucra...
Beer-powered clock?
cazalea, Thanks for the report. I like that the clock is water-powered...er....actually beer powered. Following the ancient formulae: 1) Man is given beer. 2) Man drinks beer. 3) Man winds clock. 4) Man pees. Where 1 + 2 equals 3 + 4. :-) MTF
beer-power?
MTF, Perhaps you have consumed some beer while reading the story, but the NYC clock I saw is powered by 750-1000 pound weights, pulled up once a week by an old electric motor. I did however see a beer truck from San Diego when I was in NY, while wearing m...
Yes and Yes
cazalea, Yes: I was imbibing a small can of Chang (elephant) beer. :-) Yes: you had consumed an organic Peak beer before your winding adventure. Yes: most great ideas of Man occur after a beer or three............... hehehe, MTF
What a delightful post!
I've lived here my whole life and never had an experience like this; thank you so much for sharing this with us! Regards, Adam