Car Clocks | clockandwatchesqld

Dashboard Car Clocks.

Latest postings are highlighted in red - Intro, Key wind, Stem wind, Rim wind, Swing clocks, Mirror, Simplex, Steering post, Magnetic, Westclox auto, Ashtray, Drivers watch, Glovebox, Self-winding, -Early Dashboards, McFeeters Car Museum, Quirky Pontiac, Octo car clock & Cadillac Dewar Trophy, Jaeger stem wind in a 1931 Cadillac, Waltham with Timer, Glove Box Special Feature,

This posting traces the development of manual wind auto clocks from 1900. Dashboard Instruments then were rare. But as cars evolved the dashboard became a place of visual wonder with a clock often the main feature. Snaps sourced here derive from cars displayed at the 2019 Brisbane Motorfest or from our members.

Intro

Timepieces designed specifically for transport actually date back to 1812 when Breguet made a carriage clock for Napoleon. These clocks set in a leather carry case were sought after by high society and used in the horse and carriage era pre 1900.

By 1900 the availability of cheap fob watches coinciding with the arrival of the first cars (horseless carriages) meant owners could carry them in a leather pouch which was hung over the car’s vertical front dashboard.

Car Clocks up until 1912 were mainly key or crown wound and distinguishable by their 70mm barrel case tilted upwards for ease of viewing. Built like over-sized pocket watches they were an expensive accessory that kept jewellers busy. Shock proofing against rough roads and exposure to the weather were two major issues.

Key

A Swiss stem wound on a 1910 EMF.

A stem wound on a 1910 Napier.

1913 Standard Model J - with a fixed winding key.

Far right, the bezels on these two clocks are unscrewed so that a key can wind the clock.

Below a Sessions clock tilted with fixed winding key underneath. Diameter 7cm and length at base also 7cm.

New Haven

Stem Wind and Set Clocks -

Stem

From 1910 as car production rose and cars became cheaper (especially in USA with Henry Ford), the demand for dashboard clocks increased. Clock companies began to advertise and sell a variety of reliable ‘shock resistant’ car clocks that were now mounted flush with the dashboard.

Some required the clock to have various length stems that fitted behind the dash. Most though had crowns used for winding and setting, located on the rim or bezel of the clock.

A.T. Speedometer Co. crown wind & set fitted to a 1926 Rolls Royce showing how sophisticated high-priced car dashboards had come.

A 1923 Citroen with a Jaeger stem wind on very simplistic dashboard.

A 1926 Packard with a Waltham long stem clock. The stem is set behind the dashboard and is part of the speedometer dial.

Right - This Rolls Royce early Silver Ghost has had the lower part of the dashboard elegantly curved to fit the clocks stem.

Rim wind and rim set clocks

Rim

were also popular from WW1. To wind such a clock the notched rim (bezel) was rotated. To set the clock the rim was pulled out and turned to move the hands. Some had a locking lever on the side which when positioned down allowed winding and when pushed up allowed the rim to turn and set the hands.

1915 Buick fitted with a rim wind New Haven clock.

1937 Packard with a 8-day Swiss rim wound and set.

Other Rim wind and rim set examples -

Jaeger

Swiss Made for a Studebaker

Jaeger

Keyless Auto Clock Co.

'Swing Clocks'' were popular from the 1920’s especially in English cars. They sat in a metal case fixed into the dash. A hinge on the bezel enabled the clock’s movement to be swung out and be wound and set from the rear. Smiths monopolised the English car market and used them in Rolls, Morris, Bentley, Austin, and Wolseley. The example shown is a Rotherhams of Coventry 8day Swiss Movement.

Swing

A 1926 Vauxhall with a swing Smiths 8-day clock.

A 1923 Berliet with a Swiss made swing clock.

Mirror Clocks

Not so common in cars was the rear vision mirror clock. They were developed in the 1920’s to free up space for the growing number of instruments on the dash and to allow back seat passengers to see the time more easily. These stem wound and set mirror clocks had a few issues – the position of the mirror could move while winding, glass glare and reading the clock at night. The remedy was the pull wind cord mirror clock developed in the 1930’s which used anti-glare glass, luminous hands and the option of a built-in night light.

Stem wind fitted to a 1930 Dodge Six.

Mirror

Pull wind Phinney Walker Clock

Pull wind fitted to a Mansfield

Stem wind with British Patent Swiss made

The Simplex Watch Holder – Following on from the leather pocket watch holder slung over the open vertical dash on the ‘Horseless Carriage’ (described at the beginning of this post), an invention in 1910 by Mr. H. Lang a jeweller from Virginia allowed your watch to be held on the spokes of the steering wheel.

Simplex

At a cost of $1 it was promoted on the box with an Ingersoll pocket watch aptly named “Traveler” and a Ford Model A. A good idea that lasted only to the 1920’s as the days of carrying pocket watches were numbered.

Steering Post Clocks. As cars turned to electric instruments from the 1930’s, New Haven came up with the idea of an electric clock which could be clamped to the steering post. The 1936 ad for this clock notes that the need for cutting or complicated fitting is avoided at a cost of $5.25. The main problem is that only the driver could see it clearly.

Steering

Magnetic Car clocks.

In the 1960’s Westclox of Canada made the ‘auto-watch’ which had a strong magnet on the back to place on a steel plate screwed anywhere on the dashboard. There were two models – a stem set and wound with red hands, a 24hour dial and a 30hour movement (as in picture). The other with Super-Glo written on the black dial with dashes for the hour markers (only the six and twelve shown). Basic but practical.

Smiths of England were also selling similar clocks. They had smaller magnets but the watch was of similar size (48mm). The main difference was they had push in crowns for setting (Westclox were pull-out for setting).

Magnetic

Westclox also made manual wind auto clocks in 1930 - 32 with adjustable mounts.–

Westclox

This clock attached to a bracket (similar to the mirror clock) could be installed either overhead or on the dash. It could be swung upwards to enable the winding and setting and also be set at the angle a driver wished. Cost - $2.50 for the black dial with luminous hands and $2.50 for the plain dial. There was also a square dial sold.

Ashtray Clocks.

Ashtray

This unusual auto clock from the 1920’s/ 30’s was made in England with a Ford logo. The clock in a bakelite case was combined with an ashtray. The 14cm winding stem sat behind the dash at 45° for winding and setting. The whole unit measured 12x7x5cm deep with the ashtray opening out from below the clock. Later Ford produced a similar 6volt version with the long stem used for setting only.

The Drivers Watch – as wrist watches became popular from the 1920’s, an idea to allow one to easily read their watch while driving was the ‘Ristside’. It was marketed in 1937 by D. Gruen of the Cincinnati Gruen Watch Company. This watch with a curved dial was worn on the inside of the wrist so that the 12 and 6 (now where the 3 and 9 numerals normally would sit) ran parallel with your arm. Gruen’s driver watch did not sell well but other versions made by Patek Philippe, Movado, Cartier and LeCoultre were more successful. In the 1970s, Citizen, Seiko and Breitling were producing quartz or automatic driver's watch models, often with a stopwatch function.

A club member has this superb example of a 7 jewel unadjusted drivers watch made by the Imperial Watch Company of Switzerland. As mentioned, the 12 and 6 running parallel with your arm allowed the watch to be easily read with your hand still on the driving wheel.

Drivers

Glove Box Clocks – from the 1930’s these were a good use for what normally was a blank compartment lid.

A 1934 Oldsmobile dash with close-up of glove box clock, a 1959 Studebaker Lark and lastly a 1937 Buick.

Glovebox

Self-winding Steering Wheel Clocks

Self W

Popular in the 1950’s, these steering wheel clocks were aftermarket accessories fitted to the central hub of the steering wheel replacing the horn. Adapters were available to fit the different sizes of holes in the hub.

Used mainly in American cars with tail fins and shiny chrome-work (eg Oldsmobile, Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler, etc) they were not cheap at $50. Featuring automatic movements with an eight-day power reserve, the winding was achieved by a rotor that would spin with acceleration, braking and the turning of the wheel. The crystal could also be wound as in rim wind clocks. MAAR and Benrus were the two main Swiss companies producing these clocks.

The Dashboard a "place of visual wonder"

Dashboard

These above snaps of dashboard clocks from the early 1900’s to 1960 makes one aware of the modifications, not only in the clocks themselves but in dashboard layout.

Early dashboards were fixed to the horse drawn carriage to protect the driver from mud thrown up by the horses’ hooves. Then the horseless carriages dashboard (with the engine mounted at the front) acted to shield the driver from engine heat & any splashed oil as shown by this 1905 Rambler & a 1913 Talbot.

As the car’s instrumentation evolved, the dash was used for a growing number of gauges & instruments. That said, Henry Ford’s 1923 Model T had only one instrument – the ammeter that measured battery current.

From the mid 20’s the dashboard had been raised above knee height & allowed clocks with long stems to be fitted behind & easily wound. From left is a 1923 Berliet, a 1926 Packard Tourer, a 1926 Rolls Royce with this set-up.

In the 30’s/40’s, the dashboard became even more crowded with instruments - the padded dashes of the 40’s to dashboards with lots of chrome work in the 50’s. The dash had truly become a place of “visual wonder”.

1937 Packard

1947 Buick

1952 Pontiac

McFeeters

McFeeters Car Museum in Forbes NSW. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZf5AzCWqAQ

The car dashboards used for the above history on car clocks came mainly from the annual RACQ Motorfest here in Brisbane. Some came from the McFeeters Car Museum in Forbes NSW. Take a look at this You Tube video showing their incredible collection. The detailing with life-size human models, makes one feel that time has indeed stopped. Thanks Paul for these snaps.

1916 Mitchell

1923 Berliet

1923 Rolls Royce

A quirky 1938 Pontiac - It has a clock built into the car’s boot along with many personal adaptions to its dash.

Pontiac

1920’s Octo 8-day Swiss Car clock - with the dial name of F S Bennett Ltd 219-229 Shaftesury Ave. W.C.

Octo

Most probably mounted on a Cadillac dash the clock can be removed from the case with a simple twist. Bennett was the first importer of Cadillacs to Gt Britain in 1902. In 1903 he entered his 6hp single cylinder Cadillac in the 1000mile reliability trial in which he won taking 8 days. Round 1910 Bennett moved his business to London’s prestigious Shaftesbury Ave. known as ‘Cadillac Corner’.

Bennett also won the Dewar Trophy (awarded for outstanding technical achievement in the automotive world) twice. First in 1908 for the inter-changeability of parts by reassembling 3 Cadillacs & running this car for 500miles without fault. And again in 1913 his Cadillac won the trophy for being the first to have an electric starter & internal lighting. The Dewar Trophy still exists & was awarded this year (2022) to Mercedes for bringing F1 technology to the road in a hypercar.

In 1953, aged 79, he teamed with Stirling Moss to repeat the 1000mile Reliability Trial with the same car used back in 1903, his average speed was 21.25mph. This was much faster than the 1903 trial as speed limits then were only 12mph. in towns & 20mph elsewhere.

Jaeger Auto Clock on a 1931 Fleetwood Cadillac Dash

Jaeger

Early car clocks had to withstand temperature variations & jarring from rough roads. So, the more expensive the car the better the clock – it would be temperature compensated, have a shockproof balance wheel & sturdy metal case. Jaeger fitted this criteria & so were in expensive cars like Bugatti, Bentley, Aston Martin & Jaguar. In the 1920’s, most prestigious French cars had Jaeger instruments as did half of all cars in England & nearly all racing cars.

In America Jaeger auto clocks were sold under the name Jaeger Watch Co. New York & were installed in Cadillacs, Lincolns & Packards. This Jaeger long stem manual winding 8day clock sits in a 1931 Cadillac ‘Fleetwood’ dash. The layout & design is stunning. The clock has equal presentation with the speedo & all dials are nicely balanced.

Jaeger – a brief history – Edmond Jaeger 1858-1922, a Paris watchmaker, founded his company in 1880. He also outsourced movements to Switzerland to companies like Cartier. In 1903 he linked up with LeCoultre a renowned Swiss watchmaker to build aviation instruments for British and French pilots. In the 1920’s the two companies turned to making auto dashboard instruments especially 4 & 8day car clocks for the American & European market. By setting up a British factory employing 700 in 1921, Jaeger and LeCoultre avoided the governments protectionist measures. This British arm was called Edmond Jaeger (London) Ltd. In 1927, 75% of the company was acquired by the British clock & watch giant Smith & Sons (a family business founded in 1851 – also making motor accessories). In 1931 another name change – now to be called British Jaeger Instruments Ltd. In 1937 Jaeger-LeCoultre was established when a ‘hyphen’ replaced the ‘and’.

Waltham

1919 Waltham 8-Day Car Clock with Timer.

This Waltham 7 jewel 8-day car clock has an added feature not found in most car clocks - the power reserve indicator or winding indicator. As the two mainsprings wind down (these enabled the clock to run for 8 days), the indicator (near the ‘10’) will show a red circle reminding drivers it is time for winding. They were patented in 1914 with this one pictured sold round 1919. A large clock (size 37), it has an 11cm diameter dial with a 9.5cm long winding stem enabling it to be mounted higher on the dashboard. The dial arrangement has all numerals completely shown (generally Waltham models have the seconds dial or the indicator partly obscuring some Arabic numbers).

Glove Box Door Clocks a sensible use of space for overcrowded dashboards.

G Box

Glove Box clocks in vintage cars are rarely found here in Qld. A nice surprise when I came across a 39 Ford Delux with such - a stem set clock with three stylish silver stripes on either side. On opening the glove box door, a Ford logo clock made by the New Haven USA Clock Company was found, made readable at night with its electric powered back light.

A question often asked - did the clock come with the car when sold? Probably this one did as it has the Ford logo. However in these early years most car clocks were an after-market option. Waltham for example listed over 20 American car makes that could carry their clocks. British cars normally fitted a Smiths car clock. The dashboard instrument layout though would determine the type of clock. Westclox & Smiths sold a magnetic clock easily placed anywhere on a metal dash. Rim wind clocks could be screwed on to any flat available surface. With instrumentation filling up dashboards from the 30’s, other spaces were used. The rear vision mirror with a clock was very popular or the normally bare glove box door. Both allowed passengers to easily read the time free from driver obstruction.

Chevrolet's 1938-40 Delux models cleverly provided a blank removable plate in the middle of a glove box door which could then be fitted with a clock if the buyer wished. Several clock styles were available - this one had two brown stripes either side of the clock dial - a stunning addition to the burr walnut dash. With the plate removed, a mounting bracket was attached to hold the clock.

Back of Glove Box plate before clock

No clock with blank plate