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SZR.50
Grandfather clock
Classic Rococo at its finest: rich and detailed, yet gentle and never excessive. Leaves and flowers, carved by hand by Pietro Mancasola, reach deep into the solid lime wood.
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 219 cm · width 73 cm · depth 34 cm
- Wood
- Solid French lime wood only, up to 16 cm thick, seasoned in upright planks
- Finish
- Medium walnut in 6 coats, water-based stain and catalysed coat; semi-gloss acrylic
- Movement
- German Kieninger mechanical movement in brass; weekly chain winding (up to 10 days); switchable night silencer from 10 pm to 7:15 am
- Chime
- Westminster on bells every quarter hour
- Dial
- Round, cast brass; hands of our own design, signed
- Pendulum
- Brass lyre pendulum and weights by Jaeckle
- Other
- Hand-carved by Pietro Mancasola; base, body and upper part from the same boards; 5 mm glass bevelled on the edges by Giovanni Casella
How it is made
In the 1970s and 1980s it was an expensive, delicate, rather small and rare clock. We exported it mainly to Japan, where it often stood in the meeting rooms of large companies that wanted to show Italian craftsmanship to their clients and staff. In those days we also carved a signature, the date and a dedication into the wood. Later we made it taller, wider and more slender, so it would suit every country and every home.
It is solid French lime wood only, up to 16 cm thick, and the wood is chosen in person by Antonio Altobel. We season it in planks standing upright, for 10 to 15 years: it takes a year per centimetre to dry. We rough it out on a manual pantograph, then Pietro Mancasola of Sanguinetto carves it by hand. Base, body and upper part all come from the same boards, and in places the carving goes 15-16 cm deep.
We finish it in medium walnut with six coats of water-based stain and a catalysed coat, then a semi-gloss acrylic. The 5 mm glass is bevelled on the edges by Giovanni Casella. The Kieninger movement plays the Westminster chime on bells every quarter hour, with a round cast brass dial and hands of our own design, signed. It is wound once a week by pulling the chains.
