A very fine and important Second Empire glazed brass weight driven high precision wall regulator of month duration, with seconds and compensated pendulum with fine adjustment, signed and numbered on a plaque on the silvered dial No 1 Richard Redding Zurich. The flat engraved dial with gilt brass bezel, with inner Roman and outer Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds dial below 12 o'clock with Arabic numerals, with a fine pair of gilt brass arrow-shaped hands for the hours and minutes and blued steel pointer for the seconds, the silvered beat-scale marked 0-4. The very finely shaped gilt brass plated four pillar movement with maintaining power to the barrel, a heavy polished steel weight attached to the brass four-spoke pulley wheel, five-wheel train and Graham dead-beat escapement with anchor. The whole escapement easily removed by four screws, fixed and mounted to a separate bridge. With a seconds beating gridiron pendulum formed from one polished steel rod with brass cased in a steel cover with a fine micrometric marked brass regulation ring and pointer. Spring suspension with fine beat adjustment, with a small silvered brass tray attached to the pendulum rod for taking small lead shots for extra fine regulation, with a separate pulley to keep the weight clear of the pendulum and movement. The rectangular brass case with glazed front and sides, the hinged glazed doors with locks at the top for the dial and at the bottom for the bob, with a custom made key. The heavy Carrara marble back with heavy fixed cast iron bracket with the pendulum suspension and movement mounts all held by three massive steel and brass engine turned headed screws, the movement fixed with two similar screws. Each pillar is screwed and the fine fixing nuts engine-turned, the plates to the movement still retaining their original gilding

Paris, date circa 1860

Height 136.5 cm, width 33 cm, depth 22 cm.

This fine precision instrument was originally intended to act as a mother clock, used to regulate other clocks in an institution such as an observatory, library or college. For this reason it has a long duration of a month going. It still has the two original holes in the marble back where it would have been wired for electricity, sending electrical impulses at each second interval thus enabling the same accurate timekeeping of all other clocks in the same establishment. Since this regulator is considered to be of such exceptional quality and one of the best of its type, I had intended to display it permanently in the gallery and was thus proud to add the name of Richard Redding on the dial.