Dating back to the early 1900s, when Chelsea first began making the Ship’s Bell, detailed records have been kept of each Ship’s Bell Clock ever produced by the company. Each Ship’s Bell Clock is individually numbered and then registered prior to leaving the factory. The model numbers are stored within a library of log books, which include not only when the Ship’s Bell Clock was made and who it was sold to, but also holds records of any service work we may have performed on the timepiece. This unchanged, century old process, is an example of how Chelsea Clock has been able to guarantee consistent quality and service for over 100 years.

Often a Chelsea Clock is handed down through generations and the inheritor is curious about the clock’s history, or a collector of antiques comes across a Chelsea Clock at an auction and is anxious to determine its age to estimate its value*. Chelsea Clock offers a Certificate of Origin for any Ship’s Bell Clock ever produced by the company.   Each certificate is embossed with a Chelsea Clock stamp of approval and is hand signed by JK Nicholas, President and CEO.

Are you curious to know when your clock shipped from our factory?  If you post a picture of your clock with your serial number on the Chelsea Clock Facebook page we will send you a free Certificate of Origin, a $35 value.  This offer is valid through October 31, 2011 and the oldest clock posted will receive a $250 repair gift certificate to be used on your next repair order at Chelsea Clock.  Post a photo of your favorite clock today.

* Note: Chelsea Clock does not provide clock appraisal services

As the official prize sponsor of the 2011 Charleston Bermuda Race, Chelsea Clock is pleased to congratulate the finishers of this historic ocean challenge. Crews of the Tucana – winning first place in the PHRF Racing Class and IRC Racing Class – J/130 – taking first place in the PHRF Doublehanded Division – and the Spirit of Juno –  capturing second place in the PHRF Racing Class – were among those presented with Chelsea Clock trophies during a formal awards ceremony held at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

Among the crew of the yacht Spirit of Juno was comedian Stephen Colbert who, upon receiving the award, said “For those of you who’ve not done this race, it’s not always easy, but it’s always beautiful.” He expressed his gratitude to his fellow crewmembers, adding “their English accents made us calm with their quiet sense of authority.”

Colbert and other Race participants were joined at the awards gala by a number of Bermudian dignitaries, including the Deputy Governor, the Premier, the Minister of Development and Tourism, and the Mayor of Hamilton.

All of us at Chelsea Clock are delighted to have been a part of this exciting sailing event and applaud the tremendous spirit and perseverance of all who participated.  A special thanks to Ondeck for organizing a great event. We look forward to the next Charleston Bermuda Race in 2013!  For more information about the race and results, visit www.charlestonbermuda.com.

Click here to see a humorous video of Stephen Colbert displaying his trophy and recounting his race experience.

The Ship’s Bell Clock is a Chelsea Clock classic. First patented in 1898, the movement of the clock is what the Company calls a “4L”, which includes a distinguished chime coordinated with a mariner’s bell code for keeping watch at sea. Alerting mariners to time during their “watch” by employing the unique Ship’s Bell chime earned the Company the name “Timekeepers of the Sea.”

“The patents have been carried over from generation to generation,” said Dan Der Marderosian, Manager of Engineering Services. The Ship’s Bell movement at Chelsea Clock is one of the last remaining mechanical movements still produced in the United States. There was a time in the mid 1900s when the American clock industry included many companies crafting such timepieces, many of them right here in New England. Slowly these companies went out of business – as with many handcrafted trades they could not compete with the rising costs of labor, the rise of industrial manufacturing, and specifically in the clock industry, the introduction of the quartz movement.

Early 1900s Drawing - First Ship's Bell Mechanism

Der Marderosian comes from the automotive engineering field which focuses on high volume manufacturing and computer aided design — a stark contrast to Chelsea Clock’s craftsmanship that has been passed down to each new member of the team through hand drawn designs. “From a Mechanical Engineer’s perspective the precision, gears, pinions, and levers were quite interesting to me,” said Der Marderosian.

Dan Der Marderosian Manager, Engineering Services at Chelsea Clock

He spoke of the detail that goes into a mechanical clock especially one with a striking mechanism that the Ship’s Bell Clock is revered for and the intricacies involved with the bells striking on a cycle. Before the computer age, Chelsea Clock draftsmen would construct hand drawn blueprints of the clock’s internal jewels and pieces. They articulated with the aid of the pencil how those pieces coincided for the clock’s precise motion. Those drawings are still used today as the basis of the internal architecture of the Ship’s Bell Clock. The draftsmen were yesterday’s engineers, and today Chelsea Clock has preserved their work along with the original patents to craft the Ship’s Bell Clock.

Just as the Ship’s Bell Clock is viewed as a family’s legacy being passed down from generation to generation; Der Marderosian is one of the people at Chelsea that has “inherited” the clock’s historical mechanical movement and the original drawings. He is currently seeped in analysis, lining clocks up along the edge of his desk to methodically calculate and record the complexities of each piece. His practice will ensure the designs and theory carved out by previous Chelsea Clock makers will endure for ages. “The Ship’s Bell Clock – we inherited it. And I am examining it from a technical and engineering standpoint so that main design is maintained and understood by others in the Company.”

With 360 plus gold plated parts, and the assembly of each done by hand, some of the knowledge behind the designs was passed on verbally and the art work of each individual draftsman was drawn with that in mind. Der Marderosian and his team are reviewing the previous works of each draftsman, some over 100 years old. Their efforts will ensure that the knowledge and craftsmanship behind Chelsea Clock’s flagship timepiece will be preserved for the next 100 years to come.

A comrade through the tragedies and triumph of war, for decades Chelsea Clock has been crafting specially made clocks for the United States Navy that have accompanied men to withering adventures, remote areas, surging seas and temperamental environments. Rigorous testing and the proof that the pulsing tick-tock of a Chelsea Clock would keep beating consistently and precisely above all and many tribulations were some of the requirements for a Chelsea Clock to enlist as a timekeeper for the nation’s battles.

It was the accuracy and durability of a Chelsea Clock that the government sought out when it chose to supply a large portion of its navy vessels with the Boston Based company’s time instruments. As the government expected the clock went along with their men to the depths of the earth. Sometimes both companions came out unscathed from the unforgettable acts of war. And sometimes it is the clock alone that is intact, salvaged from the wreckage of war.

A Chelsea Clock found aboard the USS Saratoga, air craft carrier from 1920.

Experts at the Chelsea factory ensured the timely instrument would thrive in unexpected conditions. And before the 12E clock was packed up and shipped off to anywhere “World” it withstood internal tests that mimicked situations it could encounter endured during World War II or Vietnam.

In an interview with now retired John McCarthy, an employee that worked as a manufacturing manager for 28 years, he explained that the clock Jim Leone built was more accurate than any of its day. “In those days a mechanical clock would only keep time maybe an accuracy of only two or three minutes a day. But the 12E that Jim Leone built was plus or minus three seconds a day in accuracy,” said McCarthy who currently works for the company in a consulting role. Leone, the director of engineering during the mid 1900’s designed a clock above and beyond government requirements. The clock was required to have the utmost resilience to: various conditions, weather, sea, the sound waves of a shooting ship’s gun etc. “It doesn’t take much of a shock to stop it [the escapement of a clock], and the parts are very small. But this clock was made [to go through all kinds of tests] to drop to the floor and it would still work.”

McCarthy recalled several of the tests the clocks were put through before they were sent to locations he could not recall. In particular the staff placed clocks in a deep freezer cabinet with dry ice. The clocks would stay in that sealed off environment for days, with the temperature dropping to below 80 degrees below zero. The clocks would stop working as the conditions would congeal the oil; however the testament to clock’s ability to endure extreme conditions was that it would start working again once the temperature rose. The amazement was not that it only still ticked. The amazement was that the clocks kept time precisely, even after living through temperatures that most wildlife could not withstand.

Here at Chelsea Clock Company in Chelsea Massachusetts, we have been designing, manufacturing and procuring solid brass, handmade, top quality clocks since 1897.  We take a lot of pride in our work and we know our clock owners take a lot of pride in their clocks.

Around here, we have a lot of stories.  Clocks and the people who make clocks, repair and restore clocks, and own clocks.  Every day we hear another story from a customer about what their clock means to them.  And some days the clocks themselves, that come into our factory for repair, tell us stories about where they’ve been – just based on the condition they are in and the restoration touches they require.

We are starting this blog to tell you some of these stories.  So you can get a feel for the place these clocks come from and the people here who make them by hand in a long tradition of nautical clock makers.  Over the years we have developed new technology, designs, and processes, but the quality remains.  And the fact that our clocks continue to work for hundreds of years doesn’t change either.

We are also starting this blog to give you pointers – on how to care for your clock, how to consider clock purchases, what to look for and expect of a quality clock.

We hope you’ll find the blog useful and informative.  And we hope you will let us know what you think!  Anytime you have a question or comment, you can write to us stories@chelseaclock.com or Chelsea Clock Blog, 284 Everett Avenue, Chelsea, MA 02150-1598.

Shown Left: Boston Clock, Circa late 1800′s made by Chelsea Clock Company’s predecessor, Boston Clock Company which operated from 1884-1894..

This rare clock (1 of only 3 known to currently exist in this size) was originally named the “Locomotive” for its use in trains in the late 1800’s.