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ANTIQUES 091


travellersTime


Antique travel clocks and watches are both beautiful and convenient – and collectors have fallen back in love with these tiny-scale clocks


Jennie Buist Brown


awaken you or does a chirpy ringtone on your smartphone signal the start of the day? My bet is on the latter. Smartphones, it seems, have killed the bedside alarm clock. However, just imagine for a moment how much nicer it would be to be brought to consciousness every morning by the sweet little chimes of a beautiful travel clock from days gone by. I agree that it is certainly easier to have just one device for everything you may need in a day – from a clock to a calculator – but there is no denying that antique travel clocks and watches are both beautiful and convenient. Luckily they’re coming back in style – auction prices bear this out – and savvy collectors have fallen back in love with these tiny-scale clocks.


W Step back in time


Travel clocks are, of course, associated with old-fashioned luxury travel, a useful trinket to place on a nightstand aboard an ocean liner or on safari, and hark back to a time when travel wasn’t about packed planes or cruise ships with multiple decks and thousands of passengers.


Carriage clocks encased in luxurious leather boxes fi rst became popular in both France and Britain from the 1820s. Clock


hat gets you out of bed in the morning? Does the loud bell of an old-fashioned alarm clock


makers such as Paul Garnier and Alfred Drocourt in France designed distinctive models that were both aesthetically pleasing and also had advanced methods of time keeping. British clock makers, such as James McCabe, began producing carriage clocks locally in order to dispel the need for French exports and his clocks became extremely popular. Prices for carriage clocks increase depending on their brand and the degree of complexity of the movement mechanism. And if the clock retains its original travelling case, then this can make the piece considerably more expensive. As


then outdated pocket watch because it was so portable. The Rolex Sporting Prince is a prime example and a rare version in 18ct gold (only around 100 were made c1930) with a dual-dial face and a patterned case fetched about £12,700 at a Phillips auction last November.


At the end of the 19th century when wristwatches were fi rst introduced they weren’t instantly popular because it was assumed they would be easily damaged. Because of this, the travel watch with shutters that closed around it became very popular. The Swiss maker Movado patented its sleek Ermeto design in 1926 and it remains highly collectable today. A 1935 example with a silvered dial and leather case recently sold for £685.


Classic choice


a general rule, English carriage


clocks fetch


higher prices than French pieces because they were produced in smaller numbers and were signifi cantly larger than French carriage clocks. English carriage clocks were commonly produced by the best London clock makers such as Charles Frodsham, Dent & Company and McCabe. More modern 20th century travel clocks


were designed originally to pack away and pop up at your destination. At the beginning of the 20th century this tiny-scale clock was a popular alternative to the by


Art deco designs are currently very popular such as the beautiful 1930s Rolex Sporting Princess – a feminine


version of the Prince, with a reptile-skin case and double dial. Cartier, too, created some stunning examples, including a 1930 design with a bold gold chevron metal case that sold at Christie’s in 2007 for £4,440. I’ve highlighted some of the most expensive travel clocks but if your budget doesn’t quite stretch to the eye-wateringly high prices of these designer pieces, don’t worry. There are still many attractive travel clocks available at affordable prices. A search around eBay or even at fl ea markets and boot fairs can reveal some great examples.


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