Elliott Clock repairs

I've been repairing clocks now for 40 years , and over that time I've repaired hundreds of Elliott clocks .

I particularly like repairing Elliott clocks because of their fantastic quality .

Over the years , I've built up quite a stock of spares for Elliott Clocks and now with the team .

We've become specialists in Elliott's , and we really enjoy working on them .

We've had this clock come in for overhaul , and we've had a a look at it and it .

And actually , when we opened up the door , we could see immediately that it was desperate for an overhaul .

It hasn't been overhauled for well over 20 years , and that's probably one of the problems with Elliot Clock is .

They just do carry on and on and on without Snow Hall and and really , you should have one done every 8 to 10 years to keep it in really good order .

This is a balance from a Elliott time piece .

You've got the hair spring , which is the little tiny spring on the top and the balance , the part I'm holding and then the roller a little jewel in it , which moves the lever backwards and forwards and then the shaft , all the way through the middle of all three .

The pivots broken on this staff .

So I'm having to make a new staff and then fit all the bits to it .

This mechanism was produced in 1961 .

In fact , I've got the original sales receipt uh , Elliott eight day chiming clock for £30 with quite a lot of money .

Then , although it was built in 1961 this mechanism was still used right into the nineties when Elliott folded .

And that's probably the reason why they did fold is because they produce such fantastic quality and the cost of producing quality was massive and to compete with the cheaper movements was impossible .

The staffs turned out of blue steel , which is steel that's been hardened and tempered .

It is very hard .

The only way really to turn it satisfactorily is by hand with a hand graver , conventional la You wouldn't touch it with blunt at all .

When I take a mechanism out of the clock , I do a cursory look and check and see if there's anything obviously major wrong with it and , uh , found what I expected to to see .

And that is a build up of dirt not only in the bearings but also around the actual teeth of the wheels that will act as a grinding place .

And as soon as you get anywhere of the teeth , then you're in trouble .

Really , because they either need reshaping or renewing .

Um , that can be quite a costly business .

The other reason to have them overhauled on a regular basis is to clean this unit here .

Now this is called a platform escape , and this is very akin to , um , a watch mechanism , and this does accumulate dust and dirt inside there .

And what actually happens is that the pivots , especially on the balance , can drill holes in the Jews if they're if they're dirty .

So if they're clean and oiled , they they won't actually wear part .

Where the roller sits measures half a mil .

There's the diameter of the pivot , gets very small , you need to stay , and the next step is to start taking it part , stripping it down .

But also take the main springs out .

Check that they're not starting to break or rip at the end , which they sometimes do , and we were then clean polish and put back together again .

I'm just checking the diameter that fits the duel with the staff , and that goes in the hole very nicely .

This is an ex Ministry of Defence Clock .

Alex used to produce most of their clocks , especially around from 19 thirties and onwards .

And , um , it's to produce some fantastic quality pieces that are quite undervalued , really .

But it's if you know what they are .

They're well worth snapping up .

If you ever see one at a car boot sale or what have you ?

They've got fantastic quality fuse movements , and they're brilliant timekeepers .

And they will just last years and years , because the tooth form is absolutely bang on .

It's so accurate and correct it's fantastic .

E O clocks are very good quality , and they were certainly built to last .

Everything fits nicely .

They're one of the better quality clocks that we work on , but they do need maintaining regularly .

Elliott clocks were quite often given as retirement gifts and because of that , they've been looked after people bring them to me , um , wondering if they're worth anything .

And I explained to them that actually they were very expensive clocks in their time and good quality and really worth looking after because they are a clock that can be handed on down through the generations and they will be a future antique .