Museum piece
This substantial table clock has a solid brass case. The round, light-coloured dial is framed by a brass-coloured chapter ring with raised markers. Slender gold-coloured hands and the Urgos signature complete its clean design. A dark case edge contrasts with the brass.
Inside, a mechanical movement with a floating escapement is at work. The clock has no chime. Hugo Hettich developed the floating escapement in the 1940s and filed a patent for it in 1955. In the years that followed, many leading clock manufacturers used this construction. Hermle still manufactures movements with a floating escapement today.
Manufacturer
Schwenningen · Black Forest – Baden-Württemberg · Germany
The clock factory Rominger & Cie. was founded in Schwenningen in 1920. Its founders were Johannes Rominger, Christian Haller, Johannes Rauch, and Robert Pabst. The company initially focused on the manufacture of large clocks.
In 1923, Johannes Rominger left the company. It was renamed “Haller, Jauch & Pabst Uhren- und Gongfabrik Schwenningen” and continued by the remaining partners. The name URGOS was formed from the words “Uhr” (clock), “Gongfabrik” (gong factory), and “Schwenningen.”
The company grew steadily: it employed 50 people in 1925 and around 140 in 1936. Early products included grandfather-clock movements, followed later by complete grandfather clocks. Over time, URGOS also produced wall clocks, table clocks, and kitchen clocks.
During the Second World War, production had to be switched to armaments. After the war, the factory was dismantled as part of reparations. The company rebuilt production and found an export market for its large clocks.
The manufactory was liquidated in 1991. The factory buildings were auctioned in 1992. In 1994, the workforce briefly resumed clock-movement production independently, but could not keep the business going permanently.