It seems that when people get to know that one has a mechanical ‘bent’ you get asked if you can mend all sorts of things.  A case in point being mechanical clock movements.

My policy regarding this type of enquiry falls into two categories’ and is quite straight forward:-

I don’t repair them! 

They are too specialist.  The Fusee movement was a project for myself & is included here for interest.

A totally original antique clock of value

Restored Reid & Auld Clock

Unrestored Reid & Auld Clock

An example of this was an Edinburgh Townhouse clock from the late 1790’s by Reid & Auld.  The owner asked if I could get the mechanism running.  On inspection and research it quickly became apparent that the clock was absolutely original and was worth fully restoring. 

Any tinkering that I did could have affected its value.  I recommended that the clock be fully restored by a professional restorer as I felt it was beyond my expertise. 

Restored Reid & Auld Dial

Unrestored Reid & Auld Dial

For example, I did not know that the dial should be silvered and so I would have left it in the existing brass state. 

The owner followed my advice and a beautiful restoration job is the result.