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SZR.45
Grandfather clock
A Venetian clock inspired by the wealthy middle classes, in two parts: base and upper cabinet. It brings together burl and carving, a moon phase dial and a lyre pendulum.
A clock that is yours alone. Wood, finish, colour and melody: we start from this model and finish it together, the way you want it.
- Dimensions
- Height 230 cm · width 87 cm · depth 36 cm · weight 90 kg
- Wood
- Genuine Ferrara (Palladian) walnut burl laid by hand on base and upper cabinet; carved lime wood capitals; Tanganyika parts; tulipwood mouldings
- Finish
- Glossy polyester
- Movement
- German Kieninger mechanical movement in brass; chain winding about once a week; switchable night silencer from 10 pm to 7:15 am
- Chime
- Westminster every quarter hour
- Dial
- Moon phase dial by the German firm Jaeckle
- Pendulum
- Brass lyre pendulum and brass weights by Jaeckle
- Other
- Two parts, base and upper cabinet, joined by a screw; pierced 45° side panels with oval 5 mm hand-bevelled glass
How it is made
Antonio Altobel began making it in 1975, together with fellow craftsmen who built Venetian dining room suites to furnish people's homes. It also suits a home without Venetian furniture. The burl is genuine Ferrara walnut burl, also called Palladian: the fine kind, laid by hand, taken not from the large roots but from the trunk, where the branches grow out.
Each part follows its own tradition. The capitals are carved lime wood, the burl covers the base and the upper cabinet, some parts are Tanganyika and the mouldings are tulipwood. We cut openings into the 45° side panels to bring more light inside, and fitted them with oval 5 mm glass, bevelled all round by Giovanni Casella. The carving is clean and smooth, soft to the touch, and the finish is glossy polyester.
Base and upper cabinet are joined with a screw once the clock is in place at home. The Kieninger movement plays the Westminster chime every quarter hour, and the moon on the dial shows its position in the sky each day. It can stay silent at night. It is wound about once a week by pulling the chains: each weight drops about 12 cm a day.
