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A grandfather clock is a freestanding floor clock with a pendulum which is driven by weights. William Clement, an English clockmaker, developed this type of clock in 1670. They are sometimes referred to as longcase and striking clocks. A modern longcase clock is referred to as a grandfather clock and has eight-day movements which are different from the earlier longcase clocks.

Traditionally, there were two types of longcase clocks, an eight-day one that had to be wound once a week and a thirty hour clock which had to be wound once a day. The modern longcase clock is usually driven by weights suspended by a cable wrapped around a pulley and is wound by inserting a crank key into a hole of the face of the clock and turning it. There are chain-driven ones that are wound by pulling the chain on the weights until the weights reach the top, right under the face of the clock.

The left weight of a modern grandfather clock, which contains three weights, controls the striking on the hour, the middle weight controls the pendulum and keeps the time correct, and the right weight controls the quarter-hour chiming sequences. For the pendulum to swing properly, the clocks must be absolutely level on the floor.

Westminster Quarters are installed in most modern grandfather clocks but some offer Whittington Chimes or Michael’s Chimes. One-fourth of the chime sequence sounds on 15 minutes past the hour, one-half of the chime sequence sounds on 30 minutes past the hour, three-fourths of the chime sequence sounds on quarter past the hour, and the remaining chime sequence sounds on the hour.

Grandfather clocks got their name in 1876 when a song was written by H.C. Work called My Grandfather’s Clock. This was written in remembrance of two brothers who worked as managers at a hotel in England. When the first brother died, the clock began to lose time. When the other brother died, the clock quit working altogether. The longcase clocks were routinely called grandfather clocks from that time on.

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