Year-Going Regulator Clock

This rare year-going regulator clock, or Laterndluhr, beautifully demonstrates the heights of precision clockmaking. The ash-veneered Biedermeier case houses a weight-driven precision mechanism, as well as a skeletonized center dial that allows one to view the intricate movement inside. It also possesses the ability to run on a single wind for an entire year — an amazing feat of mechanical engineering in and of itself that makes this one of the most important regulators ever made.

While regulator clocks are known for their incredible accuracy, this specific timepiece is truly exceptional in its mechanical proficiency. Crafted by the Prague clockmaker Ferdinand Karl Schmidt, the clock features a brass-plated movement with a deadbeat, or “Graham” escapement, the most accurate escapement that is still used to this day. Its ingenious construction eliminates the recoil, and therefore the inaccuracy, of the more common anchor escapement. 

Since a regulator’s purpose was to provide accurate time by which other clocks could be calibrated, attention to the aesthetics of the timepiece was not usually of great importance. However, this clock, with its exceptional case and skeletonized dial, was clearly created for a client who valued both beauty and function.

Once primarily found in prominent public and government buildings, regulator clocks have been the most accurate of the weight-driven clocks since their inception in the mid-18th century. Because of the expense to create them and their primary duty of being the keepers of time by which other clocks would be calibrated, relatively few regulator clocks were ever made, as evidenced by the small number of antique specimens that exist today. This fact, in conjunction with its incredible mechanism and overall workmanship, makes this regulator one the greatest ever made.

Circa 1820

17 1/4” wide x 6 1/4” deep x 53 1/4” high