We are honored to present a very large and very early Seth Thomas clock
that was made especially for the Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co., Boston. and bears its cartouche just above
the 6 o’clock position.
In the early days of Chelsea and Seth Thomas, they made movements of large size clocks to
be installed by the buyer in cases of their own manufacture. It was a natural collaboration between ship builders and
gauge manufacturers since they had the necessary resources as part of their normal business. In this instance, the L
10 movement which was first introduced in 1901, is housed in a forged brass, nickel plated case made by Crosby.
The large 8 1/2″ dial has Arabic numerals with complimentary blued steel diamond
hands has a small second counter above the center arbor. There is a lever Fast/Slow adjustment under the 12 o’clock position.
The heavy forged bronze, nickel clad, case was made by Crosby. It has a 10″ hinged bezel and measures
10 3/4 inches in diameter at the base, and is 4″ deep. The eleven jeweled precision all brass movement was rated
by Seth Thomas for its accuracy as a chronometer. The clock is totally original and in extra fine condition. It
is running and keeping precise time right in step with a quartz time piece. Complete with winding key.
Noted clock authority and author Andrew Demeter, has stated that “Sales number of
the giants were surprisingly low…………and the low demand…was a major factor in their early elimination from the
product line. In his research, he was only able to locate 497 giant size clocks out of the 100,000 clocks that were sold
between the years 1897 through 1914 by the Chelsea Clock Company. Consequently, large size is a good indicator of scarcity,
and also of value and appreciation potential.
