Jones & Chambalut

Restoration

 

The purpose of restoration is to return a clock or watch to as near as possible its original condition. In the process the restorer must use techniques and materials matching those used by the original maker. Any past alterations which are part of the history of the piece and the reversal of which could cause problems during restoration must be assessed.

After assessing what is mechanically wrong with the movement we compare it with other movements made by the same craftsman or photographs of his or her work in order to compile a restoration plan. If little is known about a maker then much can be learned from examining other makers' work in the same geographical area and from the same period.

From our restoration plan and past experience we can calculate the approximate cost of restoration.

Here is an example of the overall restoration process of a longcase musical clock movement. The striking and musical trains, musical barrel, hammers and bells were missing. After examining a similar clock by the same maker in a museum we were able to make detailed sketches of the missing parts. The ten tunes it played were marked on the dial and we were able to obtain the sheet music for nine of them. Regarding the unknown tune we consulted an expert who suggested an alternative popular in musical clocks of that era. As the client was agreable with this arrangement we completed the restoration of the movement which involved pinning all ten tunes on the barrel, making 24 hammers and fitting the 17 bells.

............

Unrestored-----------------Barrel pinning ----------------Nearly complete