#MiddleburyCT #CalendarClock #Train #Eichhorn
Happy New Year! When the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, it’s time to open your new calendar and look ahead. Or maybe you have a clock like the pictured one, with a built-in calendar.
Calendar clocks were developed about 1850. That’s about when this one, which sold for $5,100 at Cottone Auctions, was made. Its rear movement plate is marked for Constantin-Louis Detouche (1810-1889), a famous Paris clockmaker in the 19th century. He worked for his father’s clockmaking business until 1830, when he started his own. He was later appointed official clockmaker to Napoleon III, who was crowned emperor in 1852.
Detouche sold clocks and scientific instruments, and he was known for the precision and craftsmanship of his creations. This clock’s perpetual calendar dial is said to automatically correct for the days of each month, even in leap years. It was Detouche’s own design…