Clock Information
Kuempel Clocks
Best known for their grandfather clocks, Kuempel Chime Clock Works and Studio of Minnetonka, Minnesota, produced mantel, wall, and grandfather clock kits as well as fully assembled clocks. The company, founded in 1916, ceased operations in March 2008 and no longer exists. However, there is a way to get your Kuempel clock serviced, or to purchase a new kit or assembled clock in the spirit of the Kuempel designs.
Not everyone knows that Blackstone Manor Clock Repair, under exclusive agreement with Kuempel Chime Clock Works, did the factory setup and servicing of every clock that went through Kuempel's door for the company's last ten years. Consequently, owner Mark Purdy has unsurpassed knowledge of the ins and outs of all Kuempel clocks, and Blackstone Manor Clock Repair continues to be the premier servicing center for all Kuempel products. We now have obtained all of the remaining parts inventory from the Kuempel Chime Clocks factory. There is a large amount of new/old factory fresh parts for the older clocks using Jauch movements. We also have many parts for the newer clocks using Kieninger movements. And, because we are authorized by Kieninger to buy parts directly from their factory in Germany, we can get just about any part that we may not have in stock. We have a large selection of new Kieninger movements that may be purchased separately, as part of a Kuempel clock repair, or as furnished with a new clock or clock kit.
Have your Kuempel clock serviced by Blackstone Manor Clock Repair with confidence!
If you are looking for a new clock, Blackstone Manor has partnered with Legacy Chime Clocks, a company run by a former employee of Kuempel Chime Clock Works. Through Legacy, you can obtain a beautiful mantel, wall, or grandfather clock which is virtually identical to those designed and sold by the former Kuempel Chime Clock Works company. They can supply kits, or fully assembled and finished clocks, per your order. View the Legacy Chime Clocks website at www.legacychimeclocks.com
We invite you to contact us with your Kuempel clock needs. Call Blackstone Manor Clock Repair at 952-920-1300 for information, or email us.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Clocks
Self Winding Clock Company
Western Union Time Service
The amazing Atmos clock, made by the Jaeger-LeCoultre Company, works on a very unusual principle. They are not wound with a key and there's no electricity involved. Sometimes called a perpetual motion machine, each clock contains a bellows that expands and contracts with small changes in air temperature. This slight movement is sufficent to keep the clock continually wound, and therefore are capable of running for years without intervention.
Repairs to your Atmos clock should always be done with original factory parts, in order to maintain the integrity and tight tolerances required of these technical marvels. Repairing an Atmos is a delicate and specialized task. Blackstone Manor Clock Repair has trained and experienced repair personnel who are certified by the Jaeger-LeCoultre Company to purchase and install original factory parts, a certification that only a few have. Repairs done by shops who are not certified are probably not using genuine parts.
Blackstone Manor Clock Repair strives for and consistently provides high quality repair services at a fair price, and we love working on Atmos clocks! When your Atmos clock needs a checkup, routine cleaning, minor repairs, or major rebuilding, we're the ones to do it. Call 952-920-1300 for information, or email us.
The Self Winding Clock Company (SWCC) was organized in New York in 1886 to manufacture an unusual clock for its day. Prior to this time, clocks required the periodic and frequent act of manually winding them to keep them running. Also, every town devised their own way of determining the time of day; a sort of local time standard which was often different from other towns. With the coming of railroads, there was a need for precisely coordinated time which meant clocks across the country had to be synchronized together. In response to that need, observatories began sending out telegraph signals that indicated the occurrence of noon. That service was eventually consolidated and standardized by the Federal government by recognizing the United States Naval Observatory as the time standard, and Western Union as the distributor of the time signal via telegraph lines.
The SWCC clocks included two innovations that made them revolutionary. First, the SWCC was one of the first to use electricity to power their clocks. The movements were conventional in most ways, but they used a battery to power an electrical motor once per hour which was used to wind the main spring of the clock. Prior to then clocks had to be wound by hand; this clock never needed winding and furthermore the battery needed replacing only once per year. Second, the SWCC formed an agreement with Western Union to provide their hourly time signal to the clocks, and SWCC devised a mechanism within the clock that used this signal to activate a lever that would move the hands of the clock to the on-hour position, thereby correcting for any timekeeping error caused by a too-slow or too-fast clock movement. Thus, the clocks not only never needed winding, they were also continually and automatically synchronized to the Naval Observatory time standard and therefore extremely accurate.
The Self Winding Clock Company Western Union clocks were widely used for decades. Some of the notable locations were Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Building in New York, and the London underground subway system in England. The company ceased operating in the late 1960s, but the clocks continue on as highly collectible pieces.
Blackstone Manor Clock Repair is proud to say that our clockmakers have a good amount of experience with these timepieces, and are highly qualified to work on them should your clock need any level of service: repair, rebuilding, or just cleaned, lubricated, and adjusted so that it can be put back into running condition again. We can also set them up with their own internal battery source and synchronization signal. Call 952-920-1300 for information, or email us.