Does anyone have any information about the intended use for this clock?
My father rescued this from the skip when the water works was up dated. Have been trying to find out more about it. I know it had a week long chart on the drum which recorded the depth of the water in the well.
Simon
Hi Nicole
Thanks for posting….This looks like a very interesting piece of kit, very similar to an item I have which is a Night Watchmen Clock, used as a staff locator, to record when watchmen were patrolling around buildings. In your case it looks like this would have been used to measure and record water levels, hence the low and high lights at the top. I imagine the barrel at the bottom would have held some for or paper to record the water level and the light would come on when the water was too high or low.
It’s a wind up clock, so would not be connected to a network of clocks but rather standalone. I’ve attached an ad found online explains how Gents used to position these items.
Regards
Simon
Nicola
The ink pens are missing does anyone know where I could get replacement?
Simon
It’s a good question, you’ll have to find something that is of a similar size width ink ribbon and wrap it around the coils.
This is a good video to watch to see a similar item in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9beQ2Zkr5pQ You can see how the ink ribbon is attached.
If you find a good replacement be sure to post it here. I’ve never really looked for one if I’m honest.
Simon
Nicola Pearce
This doesn’t have a ribbon it had arms that had a nibs on the end which each week you dropped ink into. These are missing.
Simon
Hi Nicole
Ah ok, I’ve not seen that before. Do you have a close up photo of where the nib would go? Of course there won’t be made by Gents anymore. But a replacement may be able to be sourced.