Chelsea Ships Bell Clock Repair Question

[JD-MDR]

The clocks not working.Not suprised. Someday
I'll have them restored and replated. I really like them I thought the 4"seemed too big for a little boat

[tjr818]

I bought the Weems clock years ago at WM, it supposedly came with a lifetime warranty. When it broke WM said to send it to Weems, Weems charged $150 to restore it. I really felt cheated by both WM and Weems, but it has run faithfully for the last 15 years so I guess I should not complain. That is much better service than I got out of my Seth Thomas Shipstrike. The Seth Thomas was an Eight day wind up and the bell on it was really nice a loud. The Weems is quartz and until I got new hearing aids I thought it had gone silent.

[JD-MDR]

Now that I'm at home doing research on the set .I guess It's not that good of a deal. When I saw them at the consignment store, I only remembered that Rick mentioned Weems & Plath in his response to my post. But I see now he didn't have much praise for them. Oh Well .

[John Stone]

Now that I'm at home doing research on the set .I guess It's not that good of a deal. When I saw them at the consignment store, I only remembered that Rick mentioned Weems & Plath in his response to my post. But I see now he didn't have much praise for them. Oh Well .

Though I have the 8 day Chelsea ships bell clock and barometer I also have a Weems and Plath. Must be 30 years old at least. It’s a quarts like yours John. Runs perfect. So perhaps yours will be fine too.

[JD-MDR]

Google's amazing. It showed me how to test the barometer in a plastic bag and how to set it to the correct reading. I'll do that tomorrow . I think the metal plating place will replate those pieces for their minimum charge probably $80 if I take them apart. So Probably I will only need to fix or replace the clock. I think this set would have cost about $300 - $400. So if I'm lucky I might have a good set for half price. It will have to wait for a while.

[John Ring]

John Stone's Chelsea Ship's Bell clock is the real deal, a beautifully made mechanical clock with a movement made in Massachusetts by Chelsea Clock. Don't confuse this Chelsea "Ship's Bell" with Chelsea's "Shipstrike" model, which has a Hermle 132-071 movement.

Many ship's clocks look similar, but have the German made Hermle 132-071 mechanical movement inside. The Hermle is not a bad movement, but it's a modern movement built for the modern market, and it's just not the same as the older high end movements. If you see small slide switches at the 11:00 and 1:00 position, you're probably looking at a Hermle, and you can buy a new Hermle movement today for around $350.

Link to Hermle 132-071: http://www.mooreclocks.com/products/her ... ranty.html

These movements were often sold in the 1970's and 80's under the great old clock maker's names such Howard Miller, and Seth Thomas. They are still sold as the Hermle Norfolk and Southampton, the Chelsea "Shipstrike", Weems & Plath mechanical ship's clock, and a few others.

The ship's clock in Tiara is a Hermle with Seth Thomas printed on the face, and it recently stopped running. So, I opened her up. Keep in mind I would never open a real classic, like a Chelsea Ship's Bell, or an old Seth Thomas, but the with the Hermle my risk is really limited to about $350, and a new one would have a better Swiss made movement. So, I opened her up.

I used a toothpick to clean what bearing surfaces I could reach without taking the layers apart, and used a clean toothpick to apply a tiny amount of light oil to friction points, but left the escapement & balance wheel alone. When I put the Hermle back in the pot & wound her up, she came right back to life.

IMG_0815.jpg

Tiara's Hermle based "Seth Thomas"

IMG_0806.jpg

1980's Hermle 132-071 movement inside

IMG_0807.jpg

Clean & light oil

Keep in mind we are talking spring wound mechanical movements here, not battery powered quartz timepieces. Even the best mechanical movements will never have the accuracy of a basic quartz timepiece. My Hermle gains about 3 MINUTES per WEEK, while my my Junkers quartz GMT watch (Ronda 505.24 quartz movement) I use for celestial navigation gains 3 SECONDS per MONTH. If you want real accuracy, consider a Citizen ChronoMaster, which might gain 3 SECONDS per YEAR, the height of quartz accuracy.

Cheers,
John Ring
CD36 TIARA

[John Ring]

strike.PNG

1980's Hermle balance wheel, escapement, hammer & coiled chime rod.

clock barometer small.jpg

And Tiara's Hermle based "Seth Thomas" is running fine again.

John Ring
CD36 Tiara

[JD-MDR]

Way nice. Thanks for the info. I tested my Barometer with the zip lock bag and it works good. Also I cleaned the terminals for the clock battery and now it works . Even though those points looked perfectly clean. A little rub with emery paper seemed to solve the problem. We'll see in a few days. Now I'm motivated to get them replated. I had something chrome plated once but it was so pitted that even after three attempts they couldn't get it perfect. I might have to paint them like Jean's. Does anyone know how to get the glass off of these.

[Jim Walsh]

John Stone's Chelsea Ship's Bell clock is the real deal, a beautifully made mechanical clock with a movement made in Massachusetts by Chelsea Clock. Don't confuse this Chelsea "Ship's Bell" with Chelsea's "Shipstrike" model, which has a Hermle 132-071 movement.

Many ship's clocks look similar, but have the German made Hermle 132-071 mechanical movement inside. The Hermle is not a bad movement, but it's a modern movement built for the modern market, and it's just not the same as the older high end movements. If you see small slide switches at the 11:00 and 1:00 position, you're probably looking at a Hermle, and you can buy a new Hermle movement today for around $350.

Link to Hermle 132-071: http://www.mooreclocks.com/products/her ... ranty.html

These movements were often sold in the 1970's and 80's under the great old clock maker's names such Howard Miller, and Seth Thomas. They are still sold as the Hermle Norfolk and Southampton, the Chelsea "Shipstrike", Weems & Plath mechanical ship's clock, and a few others.

The ship's clock in Tiara is a Hermle with Seth Thomas printed on the face, and it recently stopped running. So, I opened her up. Keep in mind I would never open a real classic, like a Chelsea Ship's Bell, or an old Seth Thomas, but the with the Hermle my risk is really limited to about $350, and a new one would have a better Swiss made movement. So, I opened her up.

I used a toothpick to clean what bearing surfaces I could reach without taking the layers apart, and used a clean toothpick to apply a tiny amount of light oil to friction points, but left the escapement & balance wheel alone. When I put the Hermle back in the pot & wound her up, she came right back to life.

IMG_0815.jpg

Tiara's Hermle based "Seth Thomas"

IMG_0806.jpg

1980's Hermle 132-071 movement inside

IMG_0807.jpg

Clean & light oil

Keep in mind we are talking spring wound mechanical movements here, not battery powered quartz timepieces. Even the best mechanical movements will never have the accuracy of a basic quartz timepiece. My Hermle gains about 3 MINUTES per WEEK, while my my Junkers quartz GMT watch (Ronda 505.24 quartz movement) I use for celestial navigation gains 3 SECONDS per MONTH. If you want real accuracy, consider a Citizen ChronoMaster, which might gain 3 SECONDS per YEAR, the height of quartz accuracy.

Cheers,
John Ring
CD36 TIARA

Great info John. My movement also gains minutes per week....in New England. All the time I'm in Bermuda it keeps perfect time....I was amazed, but it's true. When I first noticed it I figured the passage over had the same effect as whacking an old tube TV when the reception began to fade. Alas it begins to gain time once I return to my home waters. It's all part of the mystique of mechanical movements.

[John Stone]

Interesting Jim. Weird stuff happens out there. Sometimes there is no logical explanation.

What a wealth of knowledge John Ring. Outstanding info.

My Ships Bell Clock has a little dial on the face plate that allows you to adjust the speed of the clock. I used it to get it pretty accurate for a long time though every once in a while it would require readjusting. Then it broke and I shipped it off for repair which is how this thread got started. It had never been cleaned...in 43 years! After Keith Sternberg replaced the balance wheel and cleaned and oiled the parts it runs dead on accurate. I bet it loses less than a minute per week now...maybe only 10 or 20 seconds. I’ll know for sure once we make our winter voyage as I keep a clock log. The Chelsea bell is just a gorgeous sound. It’s a deep resonating doooonnng. But, it is so loud inside a CD 36 it will raise the dead. I glued a small leather pad on the hammer to soften the sound by about half. I love it. I always know what time it is on the boat just by listening to the bells.

All that said, my Weems and Plath quartz clock (original to the boat) is of course rediculously accurate. My son has it and the matching barometer in his room (see photo). It uses a C cell battery. It does not “chime.” Weems and Plath told me they could install a new chiming quartz movement for $150. Nah...I’m leaving it as is. The movement case says “Kietzle Quartz Germany.” I’d never buy a Chelsea Ships Bell Clock. It’s too expensive. It’s from our family boat I sailed on as a kid. I was a able to finagle it into my possession when we sold the boat and I have had it all these years. I used to wish it were brass but shiny nickel or SS was popular then. It’s grown on me over the years. Never seen another like it. If I didn’t have the Chelsea, I think I would just go with sometimething reasonable like the Weems and Plath or one of the clocks that John Ring has described.

For celestial I have a dedicated Casio digital wrist watch with integral stop watch. I keep it on GMT. I check it every couple days against WWV. If I remember correctly, accuracy is off by a mile for every four seconds error.

[hilbert]

On a tangent, there is an excellent watch & clock museum in Western Connecticut off I-84, Bristol. https://www.clockandwatchmuseum.org/
They have a large collection, including chronometers and even this atomic clock (which I could fit on my 28 in a pinch for celestial navigation).

Loses one second every 15 billion years. Maybe more if exposed to salt water:

[mgphl52]

Hey Jim!
Maybe, just maybe, the Bermuda Triangle is the only place where time is correct?

[Jim Walsh]

Hey Jim!
Maybe, just maybe, the Bermuda Triangle is the only place where time is correct?

I have proof of that theory (cue Twilight Zone theme music)........

[JD-MDR]

I'm feeling pretty lucky, I went to ask how much to replate these . He told me they were pure brass and he could polish them $50 total. I cleaned the terminals where the batteries go and the clock works perfect. I did the ziplock baggy test and the barometer seems perfect also. Here are before and after photos. So I got $80 in the set

[mgphl52]

They look great! Congrats!