Clock makers and brands
Who made that clock? Short, sourced histories of 31 famous clock makers, with tips on identifying and dating their clocks.
United States
Ansonia1850–1929. Born in a Connecticut brass town and grown into a block-sized Brooklyn factory, Ansonia filled …Chelsea Clock1897. Founded in 1897 in a Massachusetts factory that had already outlived several clock companies, C…E. Howard1842. While most American factories chased cheap clocks, this Boston firm built the precision regulat…Eli Terry1793. A Connecticut clockmaker who used waterpower and standardized parts to make thousands of clocks…Gilbert Clock1871. A Winsted maker that built its name on affordable clocks, kept producing through World War II w…Herschede1877. A Cincinnati watch and clock repairer's business that grew into a tubular-chime hall clock make…Howard Miller1926. From a furniture family's clock division in a small Michigan town to a well-known name in floor…Ingraham1844–1967. A Bristol cabinetmaker who designed clock cases built a company that ran for well over a centur…New Haven Clock1853–1956. Begun by a nephew making movements for a famous clockmaker, it ended up buying his business, an…Sessions Clock1903. A Bristol hardware family took over a struggling clock firm in 1902, renamed it Sessions, and c…Seth Thomas1813. A carpenter who learned clockmaking on Eli Terry's famous contract went on to found a company s…Simon Willardc. 1780–1839. A Massachusetts clockmaker from a family of clockmakers, Simon Willard gave America one of its …Telechron1912–1979. The Massachusetts company that taught power stations to keep time, so that a clock plugged into…Waterbury Clock Company1857–1944. A Connecticut brass company's clock offshoot that made millions of cheap watches, survived the …Westclox1885. Two bankruptcies, one famous alarm clock, and nearly a century of waking America from a factory…
Germany
Hermle1922. Founded in 1922 and still run by the Hermle family, this German firm makes the mechanical movem…Junghans1861. From a Schramberg workshop making clock parts to the biggest timepiece maker on earth by 1903, …Kieninger1912. Founded in 1912 to make timers for gas street lamps, Kieninger became a specialist in chiming m…Kienzle1822. Jakob Kienzle married into a Schwenningen clockmaking family in 1883 and built one of Germany's…Lenzkirch1851–1932. A Black Forest company founded by a music-box maker and his partners, Lenzkirch earned a reputa…
United Kingdom
Dent1814. The chronometer makers who built the Great Clock behind Big Ben, and the family firm that carri…Gillett and Johnston1844. A Croydon clock factory that added a bell foundry and became famous on both counts, and is stil…Smiths1851–1983. The London instrument maker that turned a speedometer factory into one of Britain's busiest clo…Thwaites and Reed1740. A Clerkenwell clockmaker founded in 1740, linked to the Horse Guards turret clock and some rema…
France
Bodet1868. A village cabinetmaker's first church clock in 1868 led to a five-generation family firm that s…Japy Frères1777–1979. Frédéric Japy brought machine production to French clockmaking in 1777, and the movements his f…
Japan
Rhythm1950. A postwar Japanese clockmaker that grew into a major producer of clocks and movements, with a l…Seiko1881. Before Seiko was a watch brand, it was a Tokyo clock factory turning out wall clocks and alarm …
France; now Switzerland
Germany (Silesia; now Poland)
Switzerland (invented in France)
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