Horological Meandering

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...  

Awesome so far and it only begins Thank you Mike for showing another facet of my dream city Damjan

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 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.... 

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... 

... 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

I'm also NY'er my whole life and this is one tour I've missed.

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...  

... 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

Thanks for the report. Keep cool if possible.

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... 

You wont get me up those little ladders even for an experience like ths. Great pics as usual Mike. Have a good time G

Great adventure! We will now direct a lot of clock questions to you! Thanks for documenting and sharing your experience!

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.

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

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

... 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... 

that parisians would act that way toward their own horological history. Applause for the restorers!

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... 

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

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...  

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

. . . :-) . . .

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