I've seen far too many "professional clock cleaning videos" where all they do is soak the movement in some solution. (Or they just stick the whole movement in a ultrasonic cleaner "that's also a lubricant so they don't have to do anything".) I like the way you did it better. Thank you so much for uploading these.
Ok, This one looks like it had been soaked in a solution, dried, oiled and sent out the door at sometime in the past as you mention above. Any time there is spotless clean oil in some of the pivots and others with black thick oil along with the condition of the lubrication on mainsprings is a sign someone may have cut corners cleaning this movement in the past. Thanks again.
Wonderful video. I have one of these clocks that my wife and I bought for our first wedding anniversary. It is running great! I've been into watchmaking for some time and since the last servicing has been quite a while, I wondered how this clock worked and what its disassembly looked like...but I wasn't going to tinker with ours. I really enjoyed your bluing of the screws, an amazing result and really interesting process! Our pendulum has the chromed rods inside the glass, not mercury. The gong randomly sounds a bit off/dull at times, and I have pondered over that here and there. Anyways, great video and thank you for showing your process!
Amazing job as always! Some of that excess oil was my doing - at least on the pivots that were accessible to a noob like me. The other oil on the gear teeth and pinons was done by a butcher. The glass from the replacement clock seems to have worked out well. Thanks for making this video. Steve from Georgia.
It ended up turning out great. I figured someone was in there recently putting some fresh oil on some of the pivots. It should have many trouble free years ahead of it now..
Wow! Been watching some of your videos and am so delighted to watch a master at work. So much patience and knowledge you have. I was amazed to learn about the mercury tubes to compensate for temperature changes! It was cool to see your reflection in the brass plates. Looking forward to watching more. Thank you.
I just experienced the same "won't run very long" in a Seth Thomas carriage clock. If I put my thumb on the main spring gear, I could get the clock going again, but it wouldn't keep running. Power from the nearly fully wound spring was just not getting to the gear train. Just to see if I could get it running, I put some thinner oil on the spring and also started noting the dial time that it stopped (in case it was a gear position issue), and it's been going for a good while, now that I helped it past the earlier stoppage point. Good to know that I was on the right track, apparently. It will still need to be disassembled and cleaned at some point, not the least because the chime is 5 minutes late!
I've watched a number of you videos and I find them filled with good information. I enjoy the variety of clocks that you show, and your concise descriptions of your findings as you disassemble, and your descriptions of the various repairs. I also have a number of various clocks in my collection, and they are in good order. I do my own repairs and maintenance. As this particular clock had a Brocot escapement, I'd like to comment on that. This Brocot escapement is typical of most that we find, being visible in front of the dial. It looks nice in operation. I have a French drum movement that is signed Achille Brocot, and while it has a Brocot escapement, it is atypical in that it is hidden between the plates of the movement. The clock is in a handsome Slate Black case, and is signed on the dial Tiffany, Young, and Ellis. The key is original with the serial number same as on the back of the dial, dial support plate, and movement. There is the original heavy beveled glass in the doors of the dial and case back. The regulator is adjusted with a key at the 12 o'clock position of the dial, and that mechanism is also a Brocot patent. Thank you for these great videos. I've subscribed and have a few more lined up now to watch.
Thanks Roy, If you end up needing to blue something. Use a heat sink, remove heat just before color you want starts to appear because color will continue to change after heat is removed. These turned out to a perfect color, better than leaving that broken one in there.
As I just finished replacing the strikes mainspring for waterbury Westminster! It was unusually easy to put back together since bushings didn’t even have a wear!
Hi James, very nice video done in detail. I have a similar model and right now I have to disassemble it to check the mainsprings and do general cleaning and oiling, the doubt I have is that I don't know how to discharge the mainsprings barrels since the lock is on the inner side of the plates, its hard to get it. If you can give me a guide on how to do it I would appreciate it. Best regards and thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You will need to run the clock for a while to let the barrels rotate until the click is near the outside of the plate, then you will be able to access the click to let the mainspring down.
@@jamesmartin5370 Hi James - I'm not an expert at this but can you just disassemble from the front dial and pull out the escape wheel releasing the gear train and let it quickly wind down?
Its nice to see that some one really takes pride in what they are doing.You go that extra step and do things the right way.I just myself a old gilbert mantel clock and it Would be nice if you could go through it for me.Thanks for the great work
Thanks, Yes I will take a look at your Gilbert. They are nice clocks. Send a couple images to my email at: jamesmart55@hotmamil.com and will see what I can do to help you out
They are called mercury pendulum. State of the art item in their day. They were replaced with similar looking ones with chromed rods that were inserted in the glass.
Thank you for yet another interesting video. Inspired by you I decided to go for a mechanical pendulum clock for my newly rented mechanical workshop. Was very surprised to see that there were many functioning clocks for sale cheaper than a new battery clock here in Norway. Seems like people just want to clear their storage and I bought a 8 day Junghans the other day and it has run correct and chiming when it should for 5 days so far. She asked ekvivalent of 5 $ for it, so I gave her 20 to not feel too bad. It´s from the 1950´s the seller believed; I will find out. One question: is there any problem with not winding and thereby not using the chime function? If I can silence the chime I will by one more for my bedroom. I find the tick-tock very calming.
Thanks, Great to hear you picked up a nice Junghans. It is ok to not wind the chimes, they will start up and correct themselves when they are wound the next time. We have relatives in Tromsø, Bodø, Mo i Rana, and Oslo, family still owns the Family Farm from the late 1800s near Hamarøy at Hellandsaas . Its a small world...
You are truly a master clockmaker! I have a question. At 25:08 where you show the clock from the left side, it appears that the pendulum has a torsion or twist to it at its end of travel. Is this a problem? How should one go about correcting such an issue? Thanks!
Good eye. Yes that is a problem that needs to be corrected or clock will run slow and irregular. Sometimes the suspension spring and or connecting hardware is tweaked and causes the pendulum to twist. On this one it was the pendulum mounting link where it connects to the suspension rod. The point where the pendulum mounted was slightly off center from the pendulum causing a twist while swinging.. I bent the upper pendulum mounting location, making it directly in line center of gravity of pendulum, this corrected the issue.
I’m curious about your screwdriver with what appears to be a sleeve and coil spring around the shaft. Does it have a special feature related to these additional parts?
Its called a self holding screwdriver. The clip that holds the screws wore out and I haven't bothered to fix it. They come in many different styles, don't think any have wooden handles like this anymore. I like this one because the blade on the end is same diameter as the shaft, seems to fit into tight spots better than the others.
Great restoration! How do you handle the restoration of the brass plates? Do you use an abrasive and polish and then lacquer it again? What is the best way to protect from corrosion and oxidation? Thanks!
I don't like removing deep scratches that require heavy abrasives, can cause other problems. Originally they were finish buffed with a high quality polishing product 2000 to 3000 grit or better. Each project needs to be evaluated and treated as needed, but in short finish with a product that is equal or exceeds the original product and you will be happy. Original brass on these were sealed with Lacquer to prevent oxidation. Today the best product is any high quality gloss urethane. Automotive quality is best, will resist the most chemicals. Lacquer will work but breaks down over time and will dissolve with some cleaners. For the case, any high quality wax will work, bees wax products also protect against oxidation if applied from time to time.
They were invented to be used to synchronize French military operations, The 1st carriage clocks had a balance wheel movement and were used by officers in the French military. Exact timing of the troops movements gave the French a large advantage over their adversaries. The newer ones with pendulums have similar cases to the originals so they retained the name, probably a marketing gimmick as well.
Another well done restoration. I've seen this type of clock referred to as a crystal regulator. Nice job polishing and blueing the screws that hold on the escape wheel bridge. Also nice work replacing the broken glass in the case. Did you happen to have a case lying around to use for parts or did you buy that for this job? It seems like it is common to buy a clock for parts.
Mechanically, it sounds like the problem with this clock was dirt, especially the mainsprings which had dried oil on them causing the coils to stick to each other. A lot of the lantern pinions were quite dirty as well. Did you do any bushing work or was cleaning and oiling enough to fix it?
Approximate age is about 1905 to about the 1920s. The company was always taking existing movements and modifying them so from year to year could be slight changes in looks.
Thanks James. I have been passed one of these clocks to look at for a friend. Do you have an email address or some way I could send you a picture of the escape wheel. I am not sure if it is the shape it is supposed to be, or if it has a 100 years of excessive wear? Any advice would be appreciated.
Enjoyed the video. I’m getting a mantel clock with similar Antonia movement serviced at a local repair shop. It also needs a screw on the face so let me know if you’d be willing to sell the good one you did not reuse.
I have a Seikosha crystal regulator that looks almost identical to this one, it has a Seikosha movement that looks like an Ansonia movement. Keeps great time, just strikes slow
Amazing how similar they are to each other. I think the cases may have been purchased from some clock case company who specialized in cases and not unique to any particular clock company.
@@theray2009 It sure does look identical. I know the dials on some I have seen were made by a dial company who specialized in dials, the dial company printed the clock Mfgs. name on them . I am thinking the movement in these may be the only item produced by the individual clock company.
You do a nice job of editing your videos down to show just the more interesting or unusal parts, but sometimes I am left wanting to see a little bit more. In this one I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to hear what the gong sounds like during the strike on the finished clock.
I was focused on getting it running and looking at several others. Gong was last item to install, didn't realize I hadn't got a video of it gonging until after it was uploaded. Still have it here, always let them run out for a week or so before shipping back. Will make a short video of it gonging for you Paul, it has a very distinct tone to it.
Why take the glass from an existing case? It would be easy and cheap to have replacement glass cut and bevelled. And yu would keep the other case intact.
@@winstonchurchill3597 Fair enough if you don’t have a supplier nearby. I used to work in the glass industry, and I’m pretty sure you could get replacement glass here for less than $100. It just seems a shame to ruin an existing case if you don’t have to.
@@tuppyglossop222 Tuppy, it was a parts clock and I used some of the parts. If in fact it is easy to find someone to replace the glass - how did I ruin the existing case?
Seikosha, Ansonia and the other clock factories built movements. They sold their movements to companies who specialized in building cases. There were also companies who specialized in fabricating dials, so we see identical dials with Seikosha, Ansonia and other clock companies on them.
@@theray2009 I am told the Dutch introduced mechanical time devices to Japan. Immediately the Japanese converted to these devices and copied their designs. They didn't have the precision equipment to fabricate tough to make parts like hairsprings and balance wheels etc ... So for those parts they purchased them separately from European and American clock companies. This is most likely why your Seikosha looks so much like an Ansonia.
"How does this happen"? The owner adds yet more oil, in an attempt to get the clock running. Some owners just keep adding more oil in attempt to avoid the cost of an actual real service. This causes oil runs which just siphon the new oil away from the pivot. Oil on wheel teeth and pinion cages is a pretty good indication that an amateur has been in there. There are parts of the clock that are not accessible without dismantling the clock, so it's impossible to clean and lubricate them outside of a proper service. Modern synthetic oils don't solidify as far as I'm aware (they might actually evaporate). Solid grease seems to indicate very old animal and mineral oils, which kind of dates the last service. At this point we should be making an effort to use only synthetic oils on everything we work on.
I agree, Synthetic oils for clocks and watches have been around since the 1940s or so. I still open up some watches today and can smell the stale fish smell of the old animal based oil that was used in it. It may have been since that last service date of around 1938 since it was last serviced.
I've seen far too many "professional clock cleaning videos" where all they do is soak the movement in some solution. (Or they just stick the whole movement in a ultrasonic cleaner "that's also a lubricant so they don't have to do anything".) I like the way you did it better. Thank you so much for uploading these.
Ok,
This one looks like it had been soaked in a solution, dried, oiled and sent out the door at sometime in the past as you mention above.
Any time there is spotless clean oil in some of the pivots and others with black thick oil along with the condition of the lubrication on mainsprings is a sign someone may have cut corners cleaning this movement in the past.
Thanks again.
Wonderful video. I have one of these clocks that my wife and I bought for our first wedding anniversary. It is running great! I've been into watchmaking for some time and since the last servicing has been quite a while, I wondered how this clock worked and what its disassembly looked like...but I wasn't going to tinker with ours. I really enjoyed your bluing of the screws, an amazing result and really interesting process! Our pendulum has the chromed rods inside the glass, not mercury. The gong randomly sounds a bit off/dull at times, and I have pondered over that here and there. Anyways, great video and thank you for showing your process!
That's a really nice clock. Someone must be very happy
Yes, really like these open escapements and glass sides, they always attract attention.
That is very cool, I love the escape wheel on the front, also you look exactly like I'd expect someone who works on antique clocks would look like.
Amazing job as always! Some of that excess oil was my doing - at least on the pivots that were accessible to a noob like me. The other oil on the gear teeth and pinons was done by a butcher.
The glass from the replacement clock seems to have worked out well. Thanks for making this video.
Steve from Georgia.
It ended up turning out great.
I figured someone was in there recently putting some fresh oil on some of the pivots.
It should have many trouble free years ahead of it now..
@@jamesmartin5370 Yup, I'm the guilty party. 😂
@@jamesmartin5370 Keeping amazing time now!
Wow! Been watching some of your videos and am so delighted to watch a master at work. So much patience and knowledge you have. I was amazed to learn about the mercury tubes to compensate for temperature changes! It was cool to see your reflection in the brass plates. Looking forward to watching more. Thank you.
I just experienced the same "won't run very long" in a Seth Thomas carriage clock. If I put my thumb on the main spring gear, I could get the clock going again, but it wouldn't keep running. Power from the nearly fully wound spring was just not getting to the gear train. Just to see if I could get it running, I put some thinner oil on the spring and also started noting the dial time that it stopped (in case it was a gear position issue), and it's been going for a good while, now that I helped it past the earlier stoppage point. Good to know that I was on the right track, apparently. It will still need to be disassembled and cleaned at some point, not the least because the chime is 5 minutes late!
Looks like someone dropped them in oil. great work 🥰👍👏
I've watched a number of you videos and I find them filled with good information. I enjoy the variety of clocks that you show, and your concise descriptions of your findings as you disassemble, and your descriptions of the various repairs. I also have a number of various clocks in my collection, and they are in good order. I do my own repairs and maintenance. As this particular clock had a Brocot escapement, I'd like to comment on that. This Brocot escapement is typical of most that we find, being visible in front of the dial. It looks nice in operation. I have a French drum movement that is signed Achille Brocot, and while it has a Brocot escapement, it is atypical in that it is hidden between the plates of the movement. The clock is in a handsome Slate Black case, and is signed on the dial Tiffany, Young, and Ellis. The key is original with the serial number same as on the back of the dial, dial support plate, and movement. There is the original heavy beveled glass in the doors of the dial and case back. The regulator is adjusted with a key at the 12 o'clock position of the dial, and that mechanism is also a Brocot patent.
Thank you for these great videos. I've subscribed and have a few more lined up now to watch.
Thank you,
That sounds like a great, unusual clock, most likely dates to 1850 or before with that dial signature.
Nice work
I was wondering why you were focused on those screw heads.
The final assembly showed how visible they are. Great to see.
Thanks
Thanks Dave...
EXCELLENT AS ALWAYS JAMES - NICE CLOCK TOO
Thanks Bill,
It sure cleaned up nice, keeping good time too.
awesome work James, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it...
Another horology secret disclosed by Mr. Martin, bluing! thank you.
Thanks Roy,
If you end up needing to blue something.
Use a heat sink, remove heat just before color you want starts to appear because color will continue to change after heat is removed.
These turned out to a perfect color, better than leaving that broken one in there.
Thank you, that was fun to watch.
Do you lawyer the brass? Great vid.
As I just finished replacing the strikes mainspring for waterbury Westminster! It was unusually easy to put back together since bushings didn’t even have a wear!
Great!
Hi James, very nice video done in detail. I have a similar model and right now I have to disassemble it to check the mainsprings and do general cleaning and oiling, the doubt I have is that I don't know how to discharge the mainsprings barrels since the lock is on the inner side of the plates, its hard to get it. If you can give me a guide on how to do it I would appreciate it. Best regards and thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You will need to run the clock for a while to let the barrels rotate until the click is near the outside of the plate, then you will be able to access the click to let the mainspring down.
@@jamesmartin5370 Thank you Mr. James !
@@jamesmartin5370 Hi James - I'm not an expert at this but can you just disassemble from the front dial and pull out the escape wheel releasing the gear train and let it quickly wind down?
Its nice to see that some one really takes pride in what they are doing.You go that extra step and do things the right way.I just myself a old gilbert mantel clock and it Would be nice if you could go through it for me.Thanks for the great work
Thanks,
Yes I will take a look at your Gilbert.
They are nice clocks.
Send a couple images to my email at: jamesmart55@hotmamil.com and will see what I can do to help you out
Excellent work on this beautiful clock Sir! Love your videos! Is this type of pendulum called a true regulator?
They are called mercury pendulum.
State of the art item in their day.
They were replaced with similar looking ones with chromed rods that were inserted in the glass.
Subscribed. Amazing work.
This ended up being a beautiful time keeper
Thank you for yet another interesting video. Inspired by you I decided to go for a mechanical pendulum clock for my newly rented mechanical workshop. Was very surprised to see that there were many functioning clocks for sale cheaper than a new battery clock here in Norway. Seems like people just want to clear their storage and I bought a 8 day Junghans the other day and it has run correct and chiming when it should for 5 days so far. She asked ekvivalent of 5 $ for it, so I gave her 20 to not feel too bad. It´s from the 1950´s the seller believed; I will find out. One question: is there any problem with not winding and thereby not using the chime function? If I can silence the chime I will by one more for my bedroom. I find the tick-tock very calming.
Thanks,
Great to hear you picked up a nice Junghans.
It is ok to not wind the chimes, they will start up and correct themselves when they are wound the next time.
We have relatives in Tromsø, Bodø, Mo i Rana, and Oslo, family still owns the Family Farm from the late 1800s near Hamarøy at Hellandsaas .
Its a small world...
You are truly a master clockmaker!
I have a question. At 25:08 where you show the clock from the left side, it appears that the pendulum has a torsion or twist to it at its end of travel. Is this a problem? How should one go about correcting such an issue?
Thanks!
Good eye.
Yes that is a problem that needs to be corrected or clock will run slow and irregular.
Sometimes the suspension spring and or connecting hardware is tweaked and causes the pendulum to twist.
On this one it was the pendulum mounting link where it connects to the suspension rod.
The point where the pendulum mounted was slightly off center from the pendulum causing a twist while swinging..
I bent the upper pendulum mounting location, making it directly in line center of gravity of pendulum, this corrected the issue.
@@jamesmartin5370 Thank you, sir! I've often wondered about this. I finally have an answer.
Great job once again!
Thanks Ron
I’m curious about your screwdriver with what appears to be a sleeve and coil spring around the shaft. Does it have a special feature related to these additional parts?
Its called a self holding screwdriver.
The clip that holds the screws wore out and I haven't bothered to fix it.
They come in many different styles, don't think any have wooden handles like this anymore.
I like this one because the blade on the end is same diameter as the shaft, seems to fit into tight spots better than the others.
Thanks. Does this screwdriver have any manufacturer or markings on it?
@@tomc4851 Only marking is on the steel shaft near the handle, reads "Germany"
Great restoration! How do you handle the restoration of the brass plates? Do you use an abrasive and polish and then lacquer it again? What is the best way to protect from corrosion and oxidation? Thanks!
I don't like removing deep scratches that require heavy abrasives, can cause other problems.
Originally they were finish buffed with a high quality polishing product 2000 to 3000 grit or better.
Each project needs to be evaluated and treated as needed, but in short finish with a product that is equal or exceeds the original product and you will be happy.
Original brass on these were sealed with Lacquer to prevent oxidation.
Today the best product is any high quality gloss urethane.
Automotive quality is best, will resist the most chemicals.
Lacquer will work but breaks down over time and will dissolve with some cleaners.
For the case, any high quality wax will work, bees wax products also protect against oxidation if applied from time to time.
@@jamesmartin5370 I wish I could be your apprentice. Thanks for taking the time to educate us!
If this is a Carriage Clock how would it keep accurate time being controled by a pendulum?
They were invented to be used to synchronize French military operations, The 1st carriage clocks had a balance wheel movement and were used by officers in the French military.
Exact timing of the troops movements gave the French a large advantage over their adversaries.
The newer ones with pendulums have similar cases to the originals so they retained the name, probably a marketing gimmick as well.
Another well done restoration. I've seen this type of clock referred to as a crystal regulator. Nice job polishing and blueing the screws that hold on the escape wheel bridge. Also nice work replacing the broken glass in the case. Did you happen to have a case lying around to use for parts or did you buy that for this job? It seems like it is common to buy a clock for parts.
Thanks Paul,
Owner sent the parts case, he mentioned it was less money than having new glass cut and beveled, it worked out good.
Mechanically, it sounds like the problem with this clock was dirt, especially the mainsprings which had dried oil on them causing the coils to stick to each other. A lot of the lantern pinions were quite dirty as well. Did you do any bushing work or was cleaning and oiling enough to fix it?
Just needed a good cleaning and fresh oil.
Do you know the approximate age of this type of movement?
Approximate age is about 1905 to about the 1920s.
The company was always taking existing movements and modifying them so from year to year could be slight changes in looks.
Thanks James. I have been passed one of these clocks to look at for a friend. Do you have an email address or some way I could send you a picture of the escape wheel. I am not sure if it is the shape it is supposed to be, or if it has a 100 years of excessive wear? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you 👍👍👍👍👍👍😃
Thank You
Enjoyed the video. I’m getting a mantel clock with similar Antonia movement serviced at a local repair shop. It also needs a screw on the face so let me know if you’d be willing to sell the good one you did not reuse.
Contact me at: jamesmart55@hotmail.com
I have a Seikosha crystal regulator that looks almost identical to this one, it has a Seikosha movement that looks like an Ansonia movement. Keeps great time, just strikes slow
Amazing how similar they are to each other.
I think the cases may have been purchased from some clock case company who specialized in cases and not unique to any particular clock company.
@@jamesmartin5370 I have a video on my channel about it
@@theray2009 It sure does look identical.
I know the dials on some I have seen were made by a dial company who specialized in dials, the dial company printed the clock Mfgs. name on them .
I am thinking the movement in these may be the only item produced by the individual clock company.
You do a nice job of editing your videos down to show just the more interesting or unusal parts, but sometimes I am left wanting to see a little bit more. In this one I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to hear what the gong sounds like during the strike on the finished clock.
I was focused on getting it running and looking at several others.
Gong was last item to install, didn't realize I hadn't got a video of it gonging until after it was uploaded.
Still have it here, always let them run out for a week or so before shipping back.
Will make a short video of it gonging for you Paul, it has a very distinct tone to it.
Why take the glass from an existing case? It would be easy and cheap to have replacement glass cut and bevelled. And yu would keep the other case intact.
Other case was property of the customer and was provided by them for this purpose.
Hard to fine people to cut and bevel glass to exact measurements - this replacement case cost me less than a 100 bucks.
@@winstonchurchill3597 Fair enough if you don’t have a supplier nearby. I used to work in the glass industry, and I’m pretty sure you could get replacement glass here for less than $100.
It just seems a shame to ruin an existing case if you don’t have to.
@@tuppyglossop222 Tuppy, it was a parts clock and I used some of the parts. If in fact it is easy to find someone to replace the glass - how did I ruin the existing case?
Great
Thanks
O Sr conserta essas jóias de relógio Parabéns pelo oficio
My seikosha one looks exactly the same
Seikosha, Ansonia and the other clock factories built movements.
They sold their movements to companies who specialized in building cases.
There were also companies who specialized in fabricating dials, so we see identical dials with Seikosha, Ansonia and other clock companies on them.
@@jamesmartin5370 ah, my seikosha also has a copied ansonia movement
@@theray2009
I am told the Dutch introduced mechanical time devices to Japan.
Immediately the Japanese converted to these devices and copied their designs.
They didn't have the precision equipment to fabricate tough to make parts like hairsprings and balance wheels etc ...
So for those parts they purchased them separately from European and American clock companies.
This is most likely why your Seikosha looks so much like an Ansonia.
@@jamesmartin5370 interesting, mine also has a ruby pin pallet escapenent
J’aime bien le son des mouvements d horloges autour de vous
Je les aime aussi.
Certains de mes petits-enfants disent qu'ils peuvent les entendre lorsqu'ils passent la nuit et disent que la chambre est hantée.
"How does this happen"?
The owner adds yet more oil, in an attempt to get the clock running. Some owners just keep adding more oil in attempt to avoid the cost of an actual real service. This causes oil runs which just siphon the new oil away from the pivot. Oil on wheel teeth and pinion cages is a pretty good indication that an amateur has been in there. There are parts of the clock that are not accessible without dismantling the clock, so it's impossible to clean and lubricate them outside of a proper service.
Modern synthetic oils don't solidify as far as I'm aware (they might actually evaporate). Solid grease seems to indicate very old animal and mineral oils, which kind of dates the last service. At this point we should be making an effort to use only synthetic oils on everything we work on.
I agree,
Synthetic oils for clocks and watches have been around since the 1940s or so.
I still open up some watches today and can smell the stale fish smell of the old animal based oil that was used in it.
It may have been since that last service date of around 1938 since it was last serviced.
Show u s americian clock
Looks like someone dropped them in oil. great work 🥰👍👏