u/MordicusEgg

A few weeks ago, I bought my first Big Ben ivory Style Five with a luminous dial. I love everything about this clock, especially the two-tone face and the cheerful tamber of the chime alarm! It keeps excellent time, too. I use it for my primary alarm clock for waking up. The other day, I saw a matching Baby Ben that I had to have! Though I love Westclox as a brand —at least through the early versions of Style 8— I tend to prefer Big Ben clocks when compared with the Baby Bens. I adore this Baby Ben, however! 😁

It's not my first style and scheme match between Big Ben and Baby Ben —not by a long shot— but this one is groovy!

I'm preparing this beautiful Lador music box for my mother's eightieth birthday. I have lightly cleaned the exterior, careful not to remove the patina from the metal, and likewise, cleaned the velvet of dust and lint. I've also cleaned, then lubricated the movement mainspring with clock oil.

What I'd love this group's assistance with, though, is two areas—

First: what's the name of the tune, please? I've tried every sound-sampling software and website that I can find, but nowhere do I find reliable, relevant results. Any ideas? Do any folks here recognize the tune? Or, possibly point me to a search engine where I can make some headway? Thanks!

Second: When I search for Lador music boxes, I find them to be distinctly different from what I have here. Do folks here have a working knowledge of this who might point me to a particular decade?

Oh, I just realized that I never showed the musical movement. I'll follow-up with a picture after I post this. BTW, the movement has no markings anywhere to indicate manufacture, save for "Lador, Switzerland".

Thank you for any help with this information you can provide! 🙂

These were a limited run of clocks, manufactured from 1936 through part of 1938. I'm trying to figure out approximately how many were produced, and roughly how many are in existence.

Such a fun little clock! 😁

I obtained this Westclox America Style 2a with radium dial—my first America— about a month ago. From the picture, it's noticeable that the case is out of round, having been pushed in in the lower left quadrant. The clock was not running on the time side, though it was fully wound. The alarm train was unaffected, and was working as intended.

Upon opening the case and isolating the radium dial and hands, I found that the clock may have never been serviced. It was visibly dirty, with dust and hair clinging to the movement in places where the lubricant had solidified. I removed the movement from the case, noting the date stamp in the plate indicating that it was manufactured on 25 May 1930. Once the movement was removed, it began to run without any intervention from me, other than its removal from the case. I was really surprised and impressed! As I said, the movement was filthy with about ninety-six years of grime, and still it was ready and able to perform its function!

Disassembly was made slightly more complicated than usual, given that —and this may have been this clock's only "repair"— someone had soldered a hex nut onto the alarm setting arbor in lieu of a missing knob. The time-setting knob was a friction-fit, and required some heat to aid with removal.

Apart from the aforementioned dust and grime of congealed lubricant, my initial examination of the components revealed significant oxidation of the brass and some minor rust on the alarm mainspring. Surprisingly, there was little wear of the pivot holes, despite the general condition of the movement. This suggests to me that the clock may have had long periods of time where it was not run.

All the components were observed to be in good working order: no worn wheels teeth, no bent arbors, et cetera, despite the case being distressed. Both the alarm mainspring and the time mainspring were in the expected coil shape and lay flat when uncompressed.

Other than the hairspring and balance, I cleaned the components in my ultrasonic cleaner with a solution of water, Dawn dish detergent, baking soda, and white vinegar. Following some light scrubbing, I rinced everything, then immersed the components in naptha to displace and evacuate any remaining water, then dried with hot air for several minutes. Separately, I cleaned the hairspring and balance in a bath of 100 percent Isopropyl alcohol.

I polished pivots and removed heavy oxidation then repeated the ultrasonic/drying process to remove any abrasive material.

Reassembly was unremarkable. I used a alarm adjustment knob from a Style Three clock as a temporary substitution.

After reinstalling the balance and hairspring, including tension and positioning, the clock began to run without a manual start while I was lubricating the pivots.

I am very happy with the results of this service! The clock is humming along, well in beat and with excellent oscillation amplitude. Later today, I will check the beats per hour, and put it in the case.

I am excited to have this gorgeous, somewhat rare, very-nearly antique clock fully functional!

I'll post more pics after I get her back in the case. 😁