Cared-for clocks will chime for years to come

What product, over time, gets high marks for wise use of materials, longevity, utility, beauty and negligible drain on environmental resources? Dave Larsen, Larsen’s Clock Center, and Walter Zimke, The Clock House, make the case for…guess what…mechanical clocks. Grandfather and cuckoo clocks. Regulator, banjo, shelf and nautical clocks. If it winds up or has weights, it’s a winner.

First off, they point out, mechanical clocks have no batteries, so there are no nickel-cadmium, lead or lithium disposal issues to worry about. No ongoing, increasing expenses for battery replacement. With a mechanical clock, you just wind it weekly, or reset the weights to the top and let gravity do the work.

Generation to generation, the clock specialists say, mechanical clocks prove their worth.

“In this day and age, when most clocks have batteries,” Zimke says, “there are still a lot of people who appreciate the old wind-up units.” He says since most of those clocks are from turn of the 20th century, they’re now 100 years old and therefore of special interest to collectors.

Larsen says everybody seems to have an old family clock.

“There’s something about clocks,” he says, “that makes people hang onto them. The clock reminds them of mom and dad. It’s seen births, deaths, happy and sad times. Somehow that character stays.”

Both Larsen and Zimke specialize in mechanical clock restoration, maintenance and repair. Larsen began working in his father William’s shop in 1976.

“I learned the restoration business from dad and the old-timers who are gone now,” he says. Those old-timers were retired Spokane and Seattle-area jewelers who worked part-time for Larsen’s father to stay busy and, Larsen remembers, “to get their fingers greasy.”

Zimke, a native of Ewersbach, Germany, near Frankfurt, spent 31/2 years at home learning his trade. In 1970 he moved to California and during a visit to Spokane’s Expo ‘74, he met the former owner of The Clock House. The next year he moved to Spokane to become a partner in that business, and in 1980 he became sole proprietor. Zimke values his formal training but says it’s no more important to him than his day-to-day on the job experience which “never ends.”

Because mechanical clocks have metal spur gears and shafts, they need to be lubricated and therein lies the rub – they run dry. Metal against metal. Steel abrading brass. But according to conservation experts at the British government’s Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), too much oil is as harmful as too little. Too much oil attracts dirt and may seep out to damage the dial face or case. The MLA recommends that oiling be done by a specialist like Larsen or Zimke who will use special clock oil rather than a general-purpose household oil. They also note that if a clock hasn’t been used for quite some time, it should not be restarted or oiled until it has been thoroughly cleaned.

Generally, MLA guidelines indicate that a mechanical clock in good condition will need oiling about every three years, and a complete dismantling and cleaning every eight to 10 years. If the clock hasn’t been well maintained, it may need more extensive attention, a renovation. Larsen and Zimke say a renovation my involve not only dismantling and cleaning, but replacing parts. In addition, a renovation may mean repairing or rebuilding the clock’s cabinetry, or case.

“You need patience to do this work,” Zimke says. “You have to have integrity, take pride in your work. But when you love your work, it’s rewarding.” A sign on Zimke’s cash register indicates customers may need a modicum of patience themselves as there may be up to an eight-month wait. For Larsen, the timeframe is three to six months.

But both men say their customers think it’s worth the wait to have a family heirloom refurbished and working once more.

“A family’s clock is constant reminder of how mother and father had such dear times,” Larsen says. “People remember grandma baking apple pie, its smell, and the clock ticking away, chiming, the pendulum swinging. It’s something they love.”