Museum piece
The rectangular wooden case, raised on splayed feet, recalls the television sets of its era. Particularly striking is the flat clock glass, whose distinctive, softly rounded rectangular outline resembles a television screen of the 1960s. The cream-colored dial is set slightly back, giving the face a remarkable sense of depth. Slender gold-toned hour markers and hands complete the elegant design.
Inside is a Mauthe mechanical movement with a striking mechanism that sounds on three chime rods. On the hour, it strikes the number of the hour; at the half-hour, it strikes once. A recording of the chime can be heard in the linked video.
Manufacturer
Schwenningen (now part of Villingen-Schwenningen) · Black Forest – Baden-Württemberg · Germany
The history of the Mauthe clock factory began in 1844, when Friedrich Mauthe established a business trading clock parts and Black Forest clocks in Schwenningen. By the late 1860s, the company had begun producing its own clock movements.
In 1876, his sons Christian and Jakob took over the business. They transformed the family enterprise into a major industrial clock manufacturer. A modern factory was built in 1881. By around 1900, Mauthe employed more than 1,100 people and produced alarm clocks, wall clocks, grandfather clocks, and mantel and sideboard clocks, among other timepieces.
After World War II, Mauthe expanded its range to include wristwatches. Among its better-known timepieces were watches awarded by Volkswagen to drivers whose cars had covered 100,000 kilometers without major engine repairs.
The growing popularity of quartz technology placed increasing financial pressure on the company during the 1970s. In 1975, the long-established clock manufacturer filed for insolvency. The Mauthe brand was revived by a new watchmaking company in 2011.