Traditional Floor Clocks: Definition, History, and Types of Movement

A floor clock was designed by English clockmaker William Clement in 1670 who disputed the credit with Robert Hooke. Well, no one knows what the truth is, but the majority credited William Clement for the development of traditional floor clocks.

Floor clock has a unique design and appeal, but it comes at a hefty cost. You can expect to pay $2500 to $12000 for a traditional floor clock. So before you buy this unique timepiece, first know a few things about floor clocks that will help you understand why it is so popular and special.

History of floor clocks

Before the invention of the floor clocks, pendulum clocks were using verge escapement mechanism, which required very wide pendulum swings of about 80–100°. But newly devised pendulum clock movements of floor clocks use anchor escapement mechanism, which requires pendulum to swing around 4° to 6°, but this new method required a long pendulum. That's where the need for a longcase arises. So this was how the design and style of the floor clock were developed.

This mechanism was considered to be quite a breakthrough because the earliest types of clocks were not so accurate. Pendulum clocks were the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the early 20th century. Floor clocks due to their superior accuracy served as time standards for households and businesses and went on to become an object of great cultural significance and proved to be a major cultural artifact. However, due to the advent of both analog and digital timekeeping, nowadays, these floor clocks are kept mainly for their decorative and antique value.

Movement of floor clocks

Traditional floor clocks were manufactured mainly with two types of movement: a one-day movement and an eight-day movement.

One-Day Movement

A clock with a 30-hour movement/one-day movement requires winding daily. Floor clocks that run on a one-day movement system only have a single weight that powers both the striking mechanism and timekeeping system. This style of movement was inexpensive and meant for those people who couldn’t afford to buy eight-day movement clocks. Some 30-hour clocks were made with false keyholes, for customers who want to fake that they were able to afford the more expensive eight-day clock.

Eight-Day Movement

An eight-day movement clock requires winding only once a week, and unlike the one-day movement, it is run with the help of two weights. One weight drives the striking mechanism, while the other provides power to the pendulum. The striking mechanism of this movement consists of a bell or chime. This style of the clock has two keyholes on either side of the dial that is used for the winding process.

So, these were few basics about traditional floor clocks.

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