EARLY 1900’s SETH THOMAS U.S.
NAVY
DECK CLOCK No. 1
Seth
Thomas, America’s oldest clock maker started operations in 1813. Their Nautical clocks first appeared in the 1860’s
and were the official US Navy Ships’ clock for almost 100 years.
The stand, a $75.00 value, is included!
Presented
is a extremely rare, antique eight day, time only, US Navy Deck Clock No. 1 clock with a 6″
black face that was made by Seth Thomas. It is engraved with the Naval Observatory cartouche directly below the winding
arbor and the NO number, 3733. A similar example is pictured on page 781 of Tran Duy Ly’s, Seth Thomas
Clocks & Movements, Third Edition, Volume 2. Based on the NO number and Duy Ly’s reference we believe this clock may
have been made as early as 1902.
It has a 6 inch, flat black dial with silver
screened Arabic numerals and Arial fonts. The spade hands are painted white with the points painted with old
radium coating. The circular dots below the numbers have radium for night use, but that has since become inactive. Radium is
radioactive material and its use was suspended. The face is in near perfect condition. The forged brass case is
dull from an earlier cleaning and polishing. It is free of pits and only has a few which are hardly noticeable.
We believe it has an early version of the Ships Lever, 7 Jewel, 8 Day movement
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CONDITION: This fine clock is in remarkable
condition and shows only the normal patina of age. The case shows some minor marks of handling. The clock was serviced
by its last prior owner, a collector of quality time pieces and the movement is keeping very good time. Since
it is over 110 years old, we recommend it be wound about every four days for best timekeeping.
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