Commonwealth of Australia vintage mechanical alarm clock
c. 1940 - 1955Commonwealth of Australia vintage mechanical alarm clock. It features a cylindrical, heavy-duty plated metal case with a polished finish. This has a C-shaped carry handle at the top, and two decorative angled metal legs towards the front and curved metal stand at the back at the bottom.
It has an inset circular, aged cream face with bold, black Arabic numerals (1–12) and thick, black metal hour and minute hands inside a broad, cream coloured border. There are some flecks of paint or metal on the lower egde of this border.
There are two smaller auxiliary dials integrated into the face. The top sub-dial is used specifically for setting the alarm time, while the bottom sub-dial houses the running seconds hand.
The face is clearly stamped with 'COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA' across the upper half and the word 'GERMANY' in very small letters at the bottom.
The reverse has two large, flat metal keys to manually wind the clock movement and the alarm spring and two smaller ridged knobs used to change the time and the alarm setting. At the bottom, there is a small horizontal slot marked with 'F' (Fast) and 'S' (Slow) to adjust the mechanical balance wheel speed. There is no maker's mark.
During the mid-20th century, the Australian government frequently imported high-quality, durable mechanical timepieces from Germany to supply public offices, railways, and military barracks. They typically featured standard mechanical movements housed in robust metal or bakelite casings, but were distinguished by custom dial markings such as 'Commonwealth of Australia', 'C.O.A.', or the Australian broad arrow military property mark.
It is not known where this particular alarm clock was used.
Details
Details
On clock face:
"COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA"
"GERMANY"
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