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Hrs. Antique Clocks |
| Hrs. Antique Clocks began life as a clock repair shop twenty five years ago. Since 1974 we've expanded our focus considerably, but clocks and music boxes are still our first love, and we take great pride in our skill and experience in restoring the clocks that we sell to the highest standards of quality and workmanship. With each passing year it becomes more difficult to find dedicated craftsmen with the high degree of training and expertise required for this type of restoration work. Indeed, you may have already encountered difficulty in trying to find someone with adequate qualifications to whom you can entrust your valuable and cherished antique clock or music box -- or you may be completely unaware of the scarcity of qualified and reputable restorers. In any event, we are pleased that you have found your way to the Solvang Antique Center and Hrs. Antique Clocks, and you may rest assured that the clocks and music boxes you purchase have received the best of care in the hands of our carefully selected craftsmen. Clocks are, by nature, remarkably reliable and low maintenance machines. They typically run 24 hours a day, nonstop, for five to twenty years before major servicing. But, like other machines, they do wear out and eventually require rebuilding. Quality restoration requires the services of highly skilled craftsmen, and when done properly will give you many years of trouble-free service. An appropriate restoration will also add value to your clock well beyond the expense involved. As you might guess, parts for antique clocks and music boxes are not generally available, and most clock repair shops do not have the expertise or the specialized equipment to fabricate or rebuild these worn or broken parts that may have been manufactured in the 18th or 19th centuries. Many shops provide cleaning and adjustment service which do not involve disassembly and detailed inspection of the movement. They simply dip the movement in an ultrasonic cleaner, dry it and oil it, and adjust it to restore it to running condition. This would be comparable to having a classic car's engine steam cleaned and tuned up. It may look a lot better and it may run well for the moment, but it has the same worn parts. If you want reliable performance and enhanced value, you would seek a qualified and trustworthy mechanic to disassemble, inspect and rebuild the engine to original specifications. Restoring an antique clock to original condition requires a similar approach, but is actually more time consuming and labor intensive. But, unlike automobile parts, worn, damaged or missing antique clock parts can rarely be manufactured by hand in our shop. Replacement of parts can also have a significant effect on the cost and the amount of time required to complete the restoration. We do not do "tune-ups" or temporary fixes on badly worn clocks because such repairs represent poor value and result in unreliable clocks that cannot be guaranteed. When we restore your clock movement, it is completely disassembled and every part is individually inspected and cleaned by hand. Every worn bearing surface is drilled and replaced with new brass bushings. Each pivot on each shaft is ground and polished to a smooth, hard surface and hand fitted to its new bushing. The escapement pallet faces are reground and polished, and all springs are tested and replaced if they are weakened or fractured. After this complete "rebuild" your clock will run as good as new for many years to come. A standard restoration will usually take eight to ten weeks, or longer if dial work, plating or parts-making is required. When restoration of your clock is completed, we routinely test it for a period of two or three weeks. This gives us the opportunity to detect even subtle malfunctions and make any necessary adjustments to insure proper and reliable operation. If additional adjustments are required we observe the clock for an additional test period to insure that the problem has been corrected. This thorough testing procedure may result in an unexpected delay in returning your clock to you, and even though it often results in additional labor for our craftsmen, you pay only the amount of the original repair estimate. The additional labor costs are absorbed by Hrs. Antique Clocks. Our restoration facilities are available exclusively to SAC customers. In order to assure the quality of service you deserve we have limited our services to clocks and music boxes purchased from our showroom currently or in the past.
HRS. ANTIQUE CLOCKS at the Solvang Antique Center 486 First Street * Solvang, California 93463 Phone 805-688-4774 * Fax 805-686-4044 Open Seven Days a Week 10 - 5 Email: |
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