Sunday, August 20, 2006

Wedding Present

My daughter got married yesterday. She took a long time to find the right partner, but she did very well. Anyway, in my attempt to find the right present for two people who had lived for years on their own and had everything they "needed" in terms of household goods, I was pleased to find a unique clock.



This copy of a 14th century wooden clock with wooden gears came as a kit that I put together on the dining room table in one afternoon. It did take a few days of trial and error to get it running and I did, in fact, make a quick trip over to the clock maker for some final adjustments. (I was lucky to find the clock maker in a village just a few kilometres away. He makes a variety of wooden geared clocks which he has designed using old 14th century clocks as inspiration. I shall do another post on his clocks when I get my camera back.)



Here are close-up photos of the clock front, still without numbers, and the gears from both right and left sides. You can see that the gear arrangement is simple but requires accurate carving. (The clock maker uses a computer guided machine to make the gears. Imagine the skill it took in the 14th century to do them by hand.)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Impressive, both as a gift and as a clock. Hope they enjoy it.

Linda said...

Ditto

Pam in Tucson said...

Much happiness to your daughter and her husband. That's an awesome gift. Fantastic mechanism - a real work of art. Beautifully made.

Lené Gary said...

Congratulations, OW. Interesting gift idea too.

Ontario Wanderer said...

So, Linda, Pam, Lené,
Thanks! The clock is a hold over for them as my Grandfather's kitchen clock will go to them when I am gone. My Grandfather's clock is still running nicely and how many modern watches have I gone through? I've lost count.

threecollie said...

What a wonderful thing to give the work of your hands and such a thing of beauty too.
Congratulations as well.

Kate said...

What a lovely, imaginative present!

Ontario Wanderer said...

Threecollie & Kate, Thank you!