Period and contemporary pendulum clocks, built by the Altobel family between Milan and Venice. Hand-carved wood, Venetian lacquer, German Kieninger mechanical movements. For more than fifty years in homes, churches and palaces all over the world.
Westminster chimethe Big Ben melody, every quarter hour
It all opensfrom the front or the top, like the 18th-century English originals
Your time now--:--
SZR.90 · Grandfather clock
Bearing the Sun King's emblem, with a boulle finish that imitates tortoiseshell. Lost-wax cast bronzes, chased and gilded one by one, and 11 jewels in the movement.
From the great classics to today's design: longcase, lacquered, contemporary, wall and table clocks. Every model can be finished the way you like: we also keep unfinished clocks in the workshop, ready for the finish you choose.
2026 list prices; the next update is in February 2027. We do not sell online: for every clock we answer you personally, with photos, dimensions and delivery times. Tap a model to see its photos, dimensions and details.
Atelier
Most requested, yours alone.
These are the models we are asked for most, and they are where our made-to-order pieces begin. We start from one of them and finish it with you: wood, finish, colour, dial and melody.
A client designed it for their own home: a wood and glass case that shows the whole movement, with moon phases on the dial. Thirty years later they moved to a smaller house, and we restored the clock for them.
If you have an idea too, we will design it together.
In our clients' homes
Where our clocks live.
Some of our clocks in our clients' homes: each one takes on the character of the room it enters.
How an Altobel is made
Old-world techniques, family hands.
We choose the wood
We work the wood from the forest to shipping. Offcuts are reused and raw materials come only from certified suppliers.
We carve and inlay
Hand carving, inlay in polychrome woods, polyester finish and Venetian lacquer. With simple machinery, as it has always been done.
We fit the heart
Only original German Kieninger mechanical movements, made in the Black Forest since 1912: mirror-polished plates and a self-centring pendulum.
We test it
Sanding, polishing, assembly, testing: we follow every step personally. That is how we can guarantee the quality.
We pack it
A double cardboard box with inner protection, and an instruction booklet in 17 languages.
It reaches you
We have shipped all over the world since 1969, with a tracking number to follow the parcel at any time.
Silent nightsOn models with a night silencer the chime goes quiet at night, usually from 10 pm to 7:15 am.
Removable heartThe movement is a single block: it can be replaced by undoing two screws, anywhere in the world.
New materialsSince 1984, wood, glass and wrought iron alongside aluminium, steel, carbon fibre and marble.
For generationsHands that can also be turned backwards, bevelled glass, 24-carat gilded bronzes cast with the lost-wax method.
Chimes
Every quarter hour, a melody.
Almost all our clocks play the Westminster chime every quarter hour. The same melody also comes on small bells: the notes are identical, only the timbre changes. Some models have three chimes or tubular bells; classical pieces are available on request.
The chimes of our clocks
Pieces on request
The main one
Westminster
Built on a phrase by Handel, it is the melody of Big Ben in London. Before that, it was played by the bells of St Mary the Great in Cambridge. It also comes on small bells, with a different timbre.
Three melodies
St Michael's
From the bells of St Michael's Church in Charleston, United States, cast in England in 1764.
Three melodies
Whittington
From the bells of St Mary-le-Bow, in the heart of London.
On request
Ode to Joy
From Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, on Schiller's text.
On request
Ave Maria
Schubert's Ave Maria, for those who prefer a gentler sound.
He started at the age of six in a small workshop, taking old furniture apart to build new pieces from the same wood. Today his clocks are in private homes, churches and government buildings all over the world.
Everything passes through the hands of Antonio and his family, from freshly cut wood to shipping.
27 February 2019, Verona Chamber of Commerce: Antonio and David at the 41st Loyalty to Work Awards.
1947Antonio Altobel is born in Sanguinetto, in the province of Verona.
1968After military service he opens the workshop below the family home, with his parents: custom furniture and interiors for Switzerland and the United States.
1969The first exports begin. Customers ask for a pendulum clock to complete their interiors: the first Westminster chimes signed Altobel are born.
1984Aluminium, steel, carbon fibre, marble and granite powder join the wood: the contemporary line is born.
1989All production offcuts are reused, and raw materials come only from certified suppliers.
2019The Verona Chamber of Commerce honours Antonio and his son David for fifty years in business, an award given to only three Verona craft firms each year.
TodayPendulum, wall, table and design clocks, shipped all over the world. Antonio still looks after repairs in person.
From the family archive: three early models, from the days when every code began with Z.
Classic, lacquered, contemporary
Around the world
Chosen by parliaments, churches and grand homes.
For many years we have supplied our clocks to politicians, parliaments, films, television and places of worship.
Central and Eastern EuropeMiddle EastAsiaAfricaLatin America
17 languages
Every clock comes with a booklet in Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Finnish.
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Services
We look after it, afterwards too.
Repairs
We repair all mechanical wall, longcase and table clock movements, including other makes: Kieninger, Hermle, Junghans, Odobez and many antique mechanisms.
Worldwide, packed in double cardboard with a tracking number. For air freight or container shipments we prepare a quote. Outside the European Union, transport and customs duties are paid by the recipient.
