wooden clock

History of Wooden Clocks

Wooden clocks have a long history which starts back in the 1500’s when Henlein invented a clock powered by a spring. Then later on in the 1500’s Burgi refined it by adding the minute hand to the clock.

In the 1600’s Huygens introduced the pendulum clock, and then developed the balance wheel and spring which helped make the clock a lot more accurate at telling time.

At the start of the 1700’s Wooden Works Clock industries formed primarily in the Black  Forest area of Germany, and by the end of the century the Back Forest Cuckoo clock industry was fully developed. During the 1700’s Graham invented the compensating pendulum, then Harrison refined it and developed it even further. The compensating pendulum clock first became popular in America in the late 1700’s.

In the 1800’s wooden clocks became less popular because they were replaced by brass clocks which were a cheaper option at the time.

Early into the 1900’s a Quarter-hour chime sequence was added to longcase clocks  to make them sound more stylish.

Today wooden clocks are some of the best clocks around. Not only do wooden clocks have quality and style, they often have better time keeping, which is one of the most important things you need a clock for! To date nearly every type of wooden clock can be brought, whether it is a Grandfather, Grandmother, Pendulum or even a Cucko o clock, all of these styles are available for purchase. Most good quality wooden clocks  can be brought for a good price, but handmade clocks cost a great deal more than machine made clocks because of the time it takes to make a wooden clock by hand. However if you want the style and quality which comes from a handmade clock, it is well worth the extra cost.