Clocks: types, buying, care and repair

Practical, sourced guides to choosing, looking after and repairing clocks, from grandfather clocks and cuckoo clocks to the battery clock in your kitchen. No ads, no affiliate links, no brand rankings.

Buying a clock

• How to choose a wall clockSize, style, movement and placement, with a sizing method that works.
• Grandmother vs grandfather clocksFloor and longcase clock sizes compared, from sourced definitions.
• Desk, mantel and regulator clocksTypes, mantel vs mantle, and what a regulator really is.
• Outdoor clocksIP waterproof ratings, thermometers and where to mount one.
• Cuckoo clocksBlack Forest history, types, the VdS certificate and care.
• Clock brands explainedHoward Miller, Hermle, Ridgeway, Sligh, Seiko and more, and who is still in business.

Care and repair

• Clock not working?Fixes for stopped, fast, slow and out-of-sync chiming clocks.
• Clock repairRepair vs service vs overhaul, cost factors and finding a qualified repairer.
• Replace a clock movementMeasure, buy and fit a new quartz wall clock movement.
• Battery wall clocksWhich battery, how long it lasts and why it stops.
• Grandfather clocksSet, wind, start and adjust a grandfather clock.
• How to wind a mantel clockWhich winding hole does what, and how far to wind.

How clocks work

• Parts of a clockEscapement, gear train, pendulum and quartz, with a labelled diagram.
• Clock chimes explainedWestminster, Whittington and St. Michael's, and Big Ben's history.
• Types of clocksMore than 40 clock styles and mechanisms.
• Atomic clockThe exact time now, from atomic time servers.

History and ideas

• Who invented the mechanical clock?The verge escapement and the first clocks, c. 1275–1700.
• Ancient clocksSundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses.
• The longitude problemJohn Harrison's sea clocks.
• How atomic clocks workCounting the vibrations of atoms.
• History of the alarm clockFrom water-clock alarms to smartphones.
• Is time a construct?What humans invented about time, and what physics measures.
• Keeping TimeThe history of timekeeping in ten chapters.

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Last updated November 6, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.