Design
This unusually wide mantel clock from the 1960s combines clean lines with a distinctive two-tone design. Its long, high-gloss black base, accented by a narrow strip of natural wood colour, rests on slender gold-coloured feet. At the centre stands the clock's light-coloured, lacquered wooden case, with its gently tapered, trapezoidal shape. The white dial, with fine black hour markers and straight hands, is protected by a glazed door with a gold-coloured surround. The restrained design and striking contrasts capture the character of the 1960s.
Technology
Inside is a mechanical Hermle movement, calibre 140-010, with a floating balance escapement. The striking mechanism produces a gentle ding-dong sound on four chime rods. It strikes the appropriate number of times on each full hour and once on the half-hour.
Story
This clock has found a new home in New York State, USA.
Manufacturer
Hermle
Reichenbach am Heuberg
· Swabian Jura – Baden-Württemberg
· Germany
Franz Hermle founded the clock factory Franz Hermle & Sohn in Gosheim on the Swabian Jura in 1922. By 1930, it was already among the region's most modern clockmaking businesses. A further production site opened in Reichenbach am Heuberg in 1951, specialising in large clocks and mechanical movements with various striking mechanisms. After Franz Hermle's death in 1953, his sons continued the business. The third generation joined in 1968 and 1974, with Gerd and Rolf Hermle respectively. Hermle North America was established in Amherst, Virginia, in 1977.
Following the insolvency of Hermle Uhrenmanufaktur GmbH in 2009, the clockmaking business was reorganised under Rolf Hermle in 2010 as HUM Uhrenmanufaktur GmbH & Co. KG. Today, Hermle remains a fourth-generation family business. It combines the manufacture of mechanical large clocks and movements with precision-turned components for industries including automotive engineering, mechanical engineering and medical technology. Since 2021, production has been concentrated at the Reichenbach am Heuberg site in Baden-Württemberg.
Company history: https://hermle-reichenbach.de/unternehmen/
