Antique Clock Collecting: Chelsea & Waltham Car Clocks

Video Transcript

"I talked earlier too about the Waltham auto clocks. This is an example of one of theirs that would have mounted in the dash board originally. You can see it's not fancy like those boudoir desk clocks I showed you, basically a nice functional piece. Heavy duty design for the bumpy roads of that time period. But again eight day, sort of like a large pocket watch, but would run for a week. It even had a little wind indicator, and when it showed up red in that little dot, you know that it was time to wind your clock again. But since we're talking mostly about Chelsea's, we need to look at this Chelsea auto clock it's called. This was a slightly larger version, it could have been in a clock, in a car, but it was also purchased by the US Navy until nineteen eleven as a boat clock for them. But they also made a smaller version that was too small for boats, but would have gone in your car well. Again a rugged construction, eight day movement inside of a durable case, so it could have been used in your cars. Auto clocks are collectible by people who like the durability of them, and many of them on the face not only say Waltham Chelsea, but may actually have the logo of one of the car companies of the time. And of course that makes it one of those crossover collectibles interesting the clock and watch people as well as vintage car collectors."