Does someone know where I might get hold of a decent mechanical alarm clock? All I've found are
a piece of junk with two bells on the top by Acctim that lasts a few months
crap plasticky Chinese copies of Westclox models, ditto - which is sad, because the original Westclox clocks were superb - I had a Big Ben that lasted 40 years
I don't care much how big it is. A 10-year guarantee or better would be nice.
Unfortunately not. Not only have mechanical clocks and watches been rendered obsolete by electronics - wiping out 500 year old traditions of precision engineering skills at a stoke - but the remaining mechanical alarm clocks, as you've seen for yourself, seem to be sold solely on price.
What seems to have happened is the the sort of person who nowadays would be willing to pay ?100 or ?150* for a decent mechanical alarm clock constructed out of machined metal parts rather than moulded plastic, is the sort of person who's not in need of a mechanical alarm clock. And who if they do buy mechnical clocks will willing pay a lot more than ?150 for them.
In the days when mechnical alarm clocks held a monopoly economies of scale and mass production meant that they could sell for maybe a fifth or less of what would be the equivalent price for a clock of similar quality today.
I can fully inderstand why somneone would want an older style clock if you didn't want battery hassles and it's for someone that's used to , a clear easy to read dial and a proper bell ring rather than an annoying bleep bleep.
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I'm sure I used to know the reason why analogue clocks appear on show as 10:09 .
you didn't want battery hassles and it's for someone that's used to , a clear easy to read dial and a proper bell ring rather than an annoying bleep bleep.
I often find it best to start with the 1 star reviews (in this case the 3 star reviews aren't that much better) for some products. The 5 star reviews are often posted by people who've only used the product for a week or two. Even if some reviews may not be for exactly the same model - sometimes an Amazon glitch - I find it unlikely that the quality would differ that much from the same manufacturer
A true Classic has been ruined, 24 Jan 2010 By G. Pinch (Leics, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) I had a Westclox Baby Ben given to me when I went to college in the late '70s and chose to buy a Big Ben when I started work in '81; that one lasted me until last summer (2009). The Westclox name and design has been taken over by a Chinese firm and the result is a huge disappointment. The alarm silencing button has been moved from on top (a good place for a fumbling hand) to the back of the clock; most of the casing is now of plastic; the alarm is tinny and weak; the face is unreadable in the dark and the setting knobs small and fiddly. O tempora o mores. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comments (2)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars clock, 24 April 2012 By roman - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) sorry I didn't take more notice of the poor reviews of this product. It is so tacky , the keys on the back are too close together to work properly and the clock's tick is very noisy!! a very poor product. don't buy! Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment
1.0 out of 5 stars Biggest item of rubbish, 19 Oct 2014 By Carol Pike - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) I had one and the alarm wouldnt switch off, they replaced and the knob to change the connection to cgange the time has fallen out therefore the clock is useless to me know.
Its the biggest lot of rubbish I have ever had.
I mwill now have to look for another clock that I can wind up which is my preference but it certainly wont be big ben.
The last Westclox I had lasted me years this one only weeks Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment
1.0 out of 5 stars not good for a clock, 12 Aug 2014 By Grahame Pattison - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) Need to be desparate to buy another, worked for just over
12 months, now the only way it will work ,is laying face down, not good for a clock . !!!!! Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment
1.0 out of 5 stars never had one like this., 12 Sep 2014 By Mark Howlett - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) Very disappointing, does not keep time and often stops for no apparent reason. Had this type of clock for many years, never had one like this. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment (1)
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars zeon westclox, 23 April 2014 By ziggyzeta "budgi" (essex) - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) Looks simular but that's where it ends cheap reproduction but not cheap in price, alarm is not repetitive a wrong buy Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars alarm clock, 25 Mar 2014 By maureen - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) this clock turned out to be a load of rubbish. it looked nice, but was not very serviceable. thank you Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful., 20 Sep 2013 By Belinda Brown - See all my reviews Verified Purchase(What is this?) This review is from: Zeon Westclox 1964 Big Ben Classic Alarm Clock (Kitchen & Home) Dreadful. Broke down after hardly any usage. It is a wind up a clock not a battery clock - I don't have a problem with that but very shortly after purchase it stopped being able to keep the time even shortly after being wound up. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment
OK, so the OP wants a mechanical Westclox-style alarm clock, but the modern owner of the brand name just produces poor quality rubbish, instead of the original high-quality clocks that go on forever, right?
Maybe there's a solution...
Buy an original one?
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(most of them aren't exactly my taste, but I don't see the problem in having a clock powered by that new-fangled electrickery)
It's well known that quartz crystals radiate electromagnetic waves at frequencies that interfere with the human metabolism. No-one but a fool would have a quartz crystal device near where they sleep.
I keep a small Casio TQ-120B quartz bell alarm clock on my bedside table which has an analogue display which it relies upon for operating the alarm bell (as well as the time setting wheel on the back there's also an alarm setting one which drives the thin red hours alarm pointer).
It measures 3 1/2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches tall by 1 1/4 inch deep. Aside from the time and alarm setting wheels on the back, the right hand side houses the bell with a slide up switch above the bell louvres.
With the alarm set, the top of the switch pokes up above the top of the case so that a waving up and down motion with a flattened out hand can effectively silence the alarm as per the good old fashioned wind up types. It runs off a single AA cell and I think we bought it over a decade ago (the clock, not the AA cell! :-).
It has the desirable feature of quartz timekeeping accuracy with all the simplicity (and sound) of an old fashioned wind up clock. Since the electric bell is the heaviest drain on the AA cell, we get ample warning of impending cell exhaustion by the alarm bell starting to fade in loudness. The AA cell always gets replaced before low voltage starts to compromise its timekeeping ability.
The consequence of such timely cell replacement also means the risk of leakage induced corrosion of the battery contacts, so often fatal to similar AA powered quartz wallclock movements, is virtually non-existent when 'leakproof' alkaline cells are fitted.
I've tried searching for images of this timepiece but to no avail. Since it claims japanese manufacture, I suspect this might well be more than a decade old (do Casio still have factories based in their homeland?).
I did notice that Casio still do similarly styled quartz bell alarm bedside table clocks (but be careful to make sure that you're buying a model with a real bell - a lot of suppliers were rather lacking in detail).
Adrian wrote in news:m23avr$orb$1 @speranza.aioe.org:
Yes. Been considering that. Thing is, they don't quite go on forever, just about 30-40 years.
As for a newly made one, there seem to be no manufacturers on the other side of the Atlantic and only one in Europe, namely Sternreiter in Serbia:
(That's a retailer's site; couldn't find one for Sterneiter themselves.)
The Sternreiter ones have mechanisms which are all brass and steel, but even they get mixed reviews.
Harry
PS Some people buy quartz cuckoo clocks these days. Don't they have any feel for how the weights work, for the engineering and craftsmanship? Each to his own, I suppose. But I think I live on a different planet from people who get annoyed when a clock goes "tick tock"!
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