Types of clocks: every clock style explained
Clocks are grouped by case (longcase, mantel, bracket, carriage, wall, cuckoo, tower), by mechanism (weight, spring, pendulum, quartz, radio-controlled, atomic) and by display (analog, digital, flip, word, binary). This guide covers more than 40 types with how to recognise each one.
Key facts
| Oldest clock form | Sundial and water clock (c. 1500 BCE) |
|---|---|
| First mechanical clocks | Europe, c. 1275–1300 |
| First pendulum clock | 1656, Christiaan Huygens |
| First quartz clock | 1927, Bell Labs |
| Clock types covered | More than 40 |
Clocks are sorted three ways: by the case they live in, by the mechanism that drives them, and by the display that shows the time. One clock can belong to all three: a grandfather clock is a longcase (case), weight-and-pendulum (mechanism), analog Roman-numeral (display) clock.
By case and form
Clocks by case and form
The shape of the case usually tells you where the clock was meant to stand and when it was made.
| Type | What it is | How to spot it |
|---|---|---|
| Longcase (grandfather) clock | A tall, free-standing case, usually over 6 ft (1.8 m), that hides a long pendulum and weights. Appeared in London around 1680, soon after the anchor escapement. The name comes from the 1876 song "My Grandfather's Clock". | Floor-standing, glass door at the top, pendulum swinging slowly (about once a second). |
| Grandmother and granddaughter clocks | Smaller longcase clocks: grandmother clocks are roughly 5 to 6 ft tall, granddaughter clocks shorter still. | Like a grandfather clock, but slimmer and shorter. |
| Comtoise (Morbier) clock | A French provincial longcase from Franche-Comté, made from the late 1600s to the early 1900s, often with an ornate swinging pendulum. | Curvy, often painted case; large decorative pressed-brass pendulum. |
| Mantel clock | A clock made to sit on a fireplace mantel or shelf, usually spring-driven. Common from the 1800s. How to wind a mantel clock. | Wide, low case; often a dome ("Napoleon hat") or arched top. |
| Bracket clock | An English spring clock from the late 1600s, portable from room to room, often with a carrying handle on top. | Upright wooden case with a handle; earlier ones have a verge pendulum visible at the back. |
| Carriage clock | A small travelling clock with a brass and glass case. Breguet made early versions in the 1810s; French makers produced them by the thousand in the 1800s. | Glass on all sides, brass frame, folding carrying handle. |
| Wall regulator | A precision pendulum clock used as the master clock in shops, offices and observatories, built for accuracy rather than decoration. | Long glass case showing the pendulum; plain dial, often with seconds. |
| Vienna regulator | An elegant wall regulator from Vienna, first made around 1800, with a long glazed case and a thin weight-driven pendulum. | Slim glazed case, polished weights, often a carved crest. |
| Banjo clock | An American wall clock patented by Simon Willard in 1802. | Shaped like a banjo: round dial, narrow waist, rectangular box below. |
| Schoolhouse clock | A sturdy American wall clock of the late 1800s, found in schools, stations and stores. | Octagonal surround around the dial, short drop box with a pendulum window. |
| Cartel clock | A decorative French wall clock of the 1700s, usually gilt bronze. | Ornate, sculptural gilt case with no straight lines. |
| Sunburst clock | A wall clock surrounded by radiating rays; Baroque in origin and hugely popular again in mid-century modern design. | Rays or spikes spreading out from a small dial. |
| Cuckoo clock | A Black Forest invention of the mid-1700s, in which a bird pops out and calls the hour using two small pipes and bellows. | Carved wooden chalet or leaf case, pine-cone weights on chains. |
| Tower (turret) clock | A large public clock in a church, town hall or tower, often striking bells. The oldest still working include Salisbury Cathedral's (c. 1386). | Big dial high on a building; mechanism in a room behind it. |
| Station (railway) clock | A large, very legible clock for platforms. The Swiss railway clock (Hans Hilfiker, 1944) gained its red "lollipop" second hand in 1953; it sweeps round in about 58 seconds and pauses at 12 until the minute signal. | Bold black bars instead of numbers, red lollipop seconds hand. |
| Desk and table clock | Any small clock for a desk or bedside, from Art Deco models to modern cubes. | Small, freestanding, often with an alarm. |
| Alarm clock | A clock that can ring at a set time. Twin-bell wind-up alarms were standard until electric and digital models arrived. History of the alarm clock. | Bells or a speaker, an alarm hand or alarm button. |
| Skeleton clock | A clock with the movement fully exposed, usually under a glass dome. Popular in Victorian England. | You can see every wheel; the plates are pierced to show the gears. |
| Mystery clock | A clock whose hands seem to float on clear glass with no visible connection to a movement. Made famous by Robert-Houdin in the 1800s and Cartier from 1912. | Hands on a transparent disc, no visible gears. |
| Astronomical clock | A clock that also shows the positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiac or planets. The Prague Orloj has run since 1410. | Several dials or rings, Sun and Moon pointers, zodiac signs. |
By mechanism
Clocks by mechanism
What keeps the clock going, and what keeps it accurate.
| Type | What it is | How to spot it |
|---|---|---|
| Weight-driven | Falling weights on chains or cables power the clock. The oldest mechanical system, used in tower, longcase and cuckoo clocks. | Weights you pull up or wind. |
| Spring-driven | A coiled mainspring powers the clock, making it portable. Spring clocks appeared in the 1400s. | Winding holes in the dial. |
| Pendulum | A swinging pendulum regulates the speed. Christiaan Huygens built the first in 1656 and cut errors from about 15 minutes a day to about 15 seconds. | Visible swinging bob; the clock must stand level. |
| Balance wheel | An oscillating wheel and hairspring regulate the speed, so the clock works in any position. Used in carriage clocks, alarm clocks and watches. | Fast ticking, usually 4 to 5 ticks a second. |
| Electric synchronous | A small motor locked to the frequency of the mains power (50 or 60 Hz). Laurens Hammond popularised them in the US from the 1930s. | Smooth-sweeping seconds hand, needs a plug. |
| Quartz | A quartz crystal vibrating at 32,768 times a second. The first quartz clock was built at Bell Labs in 1927; quartz is now in almost every battery clock. | Battery powered; second hand jumps once a second. |
| Radio-controlled | A quartz clock that corrects itself from a time signal: WWVB (60 kHz, Colorado) in the US, MSF in the UK, DCF77 in Germany, JJY in Japan. | Labelled "atomic" or "radio controlled"; sets itself and changes for daylight saving time. |
| Atomic clock | A clock regulated by atoms, usually cesium, rubidium or strontium. True atomic clocks live in laboratories and satellites; "atomic" wall clocks are radio-controlled. | Laboratory equipment; defines the second itself. |
| Network-synced | A device clock that sets itself over the internet using NTP, or from GPS satellites. This is how your phone, computer and this site know the time. What is NTP? | No setting needed; always within milliseconds. |
| Atmos clock | A clock wound by tiny changes in air temperature and pressure, invented by Jean-Léon Reutter in 1928 and made by Jaeger-LeCoultre. It can run for years untouched. | Glass case, slowly rotating torsion pendulum, no winding hole. |
| Anniversary (400-day) clock | A torsion-pendulum clock that runs for about a year on one winding, so it only needs winding on an anniversary. | Glass dome, rotating balls under the dial turning slowly back and forth. |
By display
Clocks by display
How the time is shown. Most of these you can try on this site.
| Type | What it is | How to spot it |
|---|---|---|
| Analog | Hands moving around a 12-hour dial: the classic clock face. | Hour, minute and usually seconds hands. |
| Roman numeral dial | An analog dial with Roman numerals; most show 4 as IIII, not IV. Why clocks use IIII. | I to XII around the dial. |
| 24-hour dial | An analog dial where the hour hand goes round once a day, used in aviation, polar research and some watches. | 1 to 24 (or 0 to 23) around the dial, noon at the bottom or top. |
| Digital (seven-segment) | Numbers made of seven bars, on LED or LCD displays, since the 1970s. | Blocky numbers, often red or green LEDs. |
| Flip (split-flap) clock | Printed cards that flip down to show each new minute. The Cifra 3, designed by Gino Valle for Solari in 1956, is the icon. | Click-clack of flipping cards each minute. |
| Nixie tube clock | Glowing orange numbers in glass tubes filled with neon, a 1950s display technology revived by hobbyists. | Warm orange digits floating inside glass tubes. |
| Word clock | A grid of letters that lights up the time in words, such as "IT IS HALF PAST TEN". Popularised by QLOCKTWO in 2009. | A square of letters, some lit. |
| Binary clock | Lights in columns showing the time as binary numbers. | Dots or LEDs, no numerals at all. |
| Projection clock | A clock that projects the time onto the ceiling or wall, handy in bedrooms. | A beam of light from a bedside unit. |
| Talking clock | A clock that speaks the time, for accessibility or by telephone. | A voice instead of a dial. |
Special-purpose clocks
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Chess clock | Two linked clocks; pressing your button stops yours and starts your opponent's. |
| Marine chronometer | A very accurate spring clock on gimbals, used to find longitude at sea. John Harrison's H4 (1759) proved it could work. The longitude problem. |
| Ship's clock | A clock that strikes ship's bells every half hour of a four-hour watch. |
| Time clock | A clock that stamps when workers arrive and leave. Online clock in, clock out. |
| Master and slave clocks | One accurate clock driving many dials in a school, factory or station by electric pulses. |
| World clock | Several dials or a map showing the time in different cities. |
| Exam clock | A large, silent clock for exam halls, now often on a projector. |
| Sundial, water clock, hourglass | The ancestors of all clocks. How ancient clocks worked. |
Quick guide: what kind of clock do I have?
- It stands on the floor and has a pendulum and weights: a longcase (grandfather, grandmother or granddaughter) clock.
- It hangs on the wall with a long glass door showing the pendulum: a regulator, probably a Vienna regulator if it is slim and ornate.
- It sits on a shelf and has winding holes in the dial: a spring-driven mantel or bracket clock.
- It has glass on every side and a handle: a carriage clock.
- It runs on a battery and the second hand jumps: quartz. If it sets itself, it is radio-controlled.
- It has a glass dome and spinning balls: an anniversary clock.
More: types of watches · watch hands, dials and cases · the history of timekeeping · clock themes
Questions people ask
What are the different types of clocks?
By case: longcase (grandfather), mantel, bracket, carriage, wall regulator, cuckoo, tower and alarm clocks. By mechanism: weight, spring, pendulum, quartz, radio-controlled and atomic. By display: analog, digital, flip, word and binary clocks.
What is the difference between a grandfather and a grandmother clock?
Size. Both are longcase clocks, but grandfather clocks are usually over 6 feet tall, grandmother clocks about 5 to 6 feet, and granddaughter clocks shorter still.
What is a regulator clock?
A precision pendulum clock originally used as the reference to set other clocks in shops, workshops and observatories. Vienna regulators are an elegant, slim style from Austria.
What is the most accurate type of clock?
Optical atomic clocks, which would drift less than a second over the age of the universe. At home, radio-controlled and internet-synced clocks are the most accurate.
What is a mantel clock?
A clock designed to stand on a fireplace mantel or shelf, usually spring-driven and wider than it is tall, often with a chime.
Why are they called grandfather clocks?
From the 1876 song "My Grandfather's Clock" by Henry Clay Work. Before that they were called longcase or tall-case clocks.
Last updated October 23, 2026.