This was how Urgos produced an outstanding product for half the cost of a Herschede. The Urgos clock with tubular bells shared many parts with the standard Urgos grandfather clocks with chimes rods, (see below), allowing for better economies of scale. Notice the green powder that has fallen down from the chime parts onto the gears between the plates. The quality is as good as you will find in any modern clock. The escapement is also very precise, adjusting itself when the pendulum swings with wide amplitude. The parts fit together and work well without adjusting any cap screws, as you would on a Herschede.

The chime mechanism uses no contrate gear, relying on three beveled gears. While it was exceptionally complicated, it was intended to require as few adjustments as possible after assembly to facilitate mass production, to share as many parts as possible with other Urgos grandfather clock mechanisms, also to benefit from mass-production (economies of scale), and to fit together very precisely.Īpart from the parts for the chimes on the upper-left of the photo below, the back looks like other Urgos grandfather clocks of that era. Whereas the Herschede was a traditional design, dating back to the 1910s or 1920s, the new Urgos clock was an all-new design. Here is a view of the frame to hang the nine tubes. The dial is typical of German grandfather clocks at the time. The photos below were taken during disassembly. After decades of struggle financially, the arrival of this competing clock was probably the last straw for Herschede.Ī new clock with tubular bells arrived from Germany, before which Herschede had enjoyed no competition for decades in the luxury market for clocks with tubular bells in the United States. Urgos had a great product for less than half the cost. One reason becomes clear when you look at the pages from a clock kit price list like the one below, from 1979 or 1980.

Urgos grandfather clock history