The unfortunate reality is, most clockmakers do not want to service Electric General Electric, Telechron, Herschede, or Revere clocks. Why?

The collectable gap between antique key-wind and electric clocks has always been enormous. It has always been felt that any clock needing to be plugged in just wasn't worth collecting because they had no value. As early as 10 years ago, this held true. But as of late, more new collectors are finding the true beauty and eloquence in electric clocks. In addition, new generations are finding dusty clocks in the attic that belonged to family members, long passed on. The sound, appearance, or chimes from these clocks bring back many happy childhood memories. The problem, though, is why won't anybody fix them?

Clockmakers willing to work on electrical clocks are becoming more and more hard to find. Most that will, want the equivalent of 4-weeks pay and 6-months to a year to complete. Are they really that difficult? The answer is "NO". Compared to key-wind clocks, electrical movements are easier to work on. It's the replacement parts that most clockmakers just don't have, or don't want to be bothered with trying to find.

  Figure 1

Typical Movement parts of an early 1930's Telechron M1 design

 Figure 2

The more complex Telechron/Revere Westminster Chime Movement

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Most long-time, established clockmakers have put years into learning the trade. Almost all of this involves working with key-wind clocks. Not only is a lot of time put into the field, but the amount of money invested into proper tools and equipment is also substantial. As early as 20 years ago, an electric clock could be compared to a VCR today. If you have a VCR and it breaks, do you send it out for repair? Chances are no! They just aren't worth it, and they are totally obsolete in the market. So clockmakers considered electric clocks worthless commodities, and never bothered to learn the movements, or accumulate the parts needed to fix them. There was just no profit to be made in something that was only worth a few bucks.

 Figure 3 & Figure 4 below- the 1936 Telechron 'Newberry'

Even with the growing interest and value of elecric clocks, most clockmakers still won't take the plunge. People are bringing them in, and the clockmakers are turning them away. Why? They still don't have the accumulation of parts. Worse yet, customers are being told they can never be repaired, and the clockmakers are installing cheap quartz movements in the cases. We have received several Reveres where the owners fortunately still had the original parts and we were able to correctly repair and reverse the quartz atrocities.

 Figure 4

Why consider the purchase of an electric clock made in 1945? Compared to the centuries old history of clocks, this does not appear to be that old. But compared to electricity in the American home, it is pretty old! Electric clocks for production started to develop as early as 1915. But electricity was still a luxury many Americans did not have. Therefore, early clocks were made of the finest materials, and targeted toward the well-to-do. It was not unusual in 1929 to pay as much as $100 for an electric clock, when key-winds could be bought for $20. Many electric clocks were basically the same movements as key-winds. They were re-tooled to eleiminate the winding springs, and replace them with electric motors. It wasn't until the early 1930's that most of the famous American clockmakers began developing individual electric movements and mass-producing clocks for retail. The glorious era of electric clocks spanned from about 1924 to 1960.

The quality of both the movements and case construction is something that is rarely duplicated today. The versatility of designs alloed manufactures to more greatly reflect the styles of the eras. This could be the "Art Deco" look of the 1930's right through that late 1950's "Fururistic/Chrome" period many of us remember. Sadly, there are no more American Clock Manufactures in existence. The introduction of battery driven movements in the early 1960's led to quartz movements in the 1970's. It spelled doom for anything having an electrical cord attached to them.

If you own a Telechron, Genereal Electric, Revere or Herschede  electric clock, do not let anybody tell you it can't be fixed. The advantage that Telechron had was that the technology they developed in the 1920's was light years ahead of other manufactures. By the mid-1930's, they refined their movements so perfectly, that very few changes were made decade through decade. That means the exact same parts were manufactured for generations. A part from a 1955 movement will work perfectly in a broken 1940 movement and visa-versa. And since millions of these movements were made, good used parts still exist.

Please read the Guide  "Clocks as a Treasured Family Heirloom" which is part two of this Guide.