Welch, Spring & Co. Patti VP, circa 1884

In 1879 Welch, Spring & Co. began producing a series of rather unusual, and now very desirable clocks generally referred to as Patti Clocks named for a famous opera singer of the day, Adelina Patti. This clock is known as the Patti VP (visible pendulum) but other models also used variations of the unusual 8-day clock movement. The case is Rosewood and very ornate and well finished.

Supplement No. 12 to The Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. February 1978, D. H.Shaffer, Editor, Owen and Jo Burt authors (pictured below) may be the most comprehensive volume of information about Welch, Spring and Company and the Patti Clocks. The authors state, "The Patti clock was the Welch, Spring and Company's finest accomplishment, for it was this clock alone that clock collectors, antique dealers, and horological historians associate with the Welch, Spring and Company of Forestville, Connecticut."

In spite of the accolades for beauty and quality, servicing a Patti movement of this type can be challenging and may cause one to question some of the mechanical design features. In his book, How to Repair 20 American Clocks, Steven G. Conover states, "The Patti movement is the most difficult American striking movement I can recall". Indeed the Patti movement has a reputation that precedes it and that reputation is not entirely unjustified.

Perhaps the most unusual feature of the Patti movement is the main spring configuration. What appear to be a pair of conventional spring barrels or stationary spring "boxes" (Picture No. 4 at the left) are nothing more than free-floating cans that serve no other purpose than to keep the unwinding pairs of springs contained. That's right, each can contains two long, thin, narrow springs separated by a brass separator (pictures No. 8 and 10 at the left). The outer ends of the springs are joined with a brass clip. The inner end of one spring is attached to the main wheel and the other inner end to the winding arbor. Both springs wind together. Removal of the springs is not a major problem but rewinding them and getting them back in the "can" with the brass separator between them can be a trying experience and is likely the reason many consider this a most difficult clock to service. Most commercial spring winders are simply not designed to wind both springs from the center like this. The winder shown is something I made and with the fixture shown to secure the main wheel, winding the Patti springs presents no real problem. It does help to place a cardboard separator between the springs until they are wound enough to be kept apart by the brass separator.

The springs are "slot end" having a narrow slot about 0.030" wide and 3/8" long to accept the brass joining clip. When replacing a spring they should be replaced as a pair to ensure proper unwinding. It is also good to replace the brass clip. These parts are not available as direct replacement parts but as of this writing H. & W. Perrin Co. Limited, Toronto, Canada lists a hole end spring, No. CP-M806H (8mm x 0.35mm x 1800mm) that is close enough to work if the hole end is cut off and a slot cut in the end.

B. B. Lewis designed the double spring arrangement. The patent states "By placing two springs together, I double the length of time they will run without increasing their power." There appears to be no other reason for this peculiar arrangement except perhaps to allow the construction of a smaller 8-day movement, which this is.

Another unusual feature of the Patti movement, which is also found on some other Welch, Spring & Co. clocks is the Club Foot Escapement. Although a bit strange looking at first with it's blunt escape wheel toot tips with a bit of overhang on one side, this is simply another form of deadbeat or possibly half-deadbeat escapement where the locking and impulse faces are on the escape wheel instead of being on the verge or pallet strip. These run well and are not difficult to adjust but if there is any advantage over a conventional deadbeat escapement it has escaped this writer. One major disadvantage is that replacement escape wheels must be custom made and special machining techniques are required to create satisfactory replacements. (See last picture at the left.)

As Welch, Spring and Company's "finest accomplishment" these movements seem to present a number of unexplained departures from what one would expect in a movement of best design and highest quality. The brass plates of the movement are 0.070" thick, well made and very sturdy, but the wheels appear thin and very "ordinary". The pivots are very fine as one might expect on a high quality clock but they appear NOT to be hardened like on a fine French clock but left soft and easily bent during assembly. The pendulum is suspended from a trapeze suspension typical of a Cuckoo clock, which is OK, but the swinging point is raised well above the axis of rotation of the verge. This results in the crutch wire constantly sliding up and down in the wooden slot in the pendulum support stick creating unnecessary friction and wear. Better clocks place the swinging point of the pendulum in line with the verge arbor or nearly so, and the slot in a wooden pendulum stick is usually surrounded by a metal wear plate.

The movement has no "beat adjustment" other than bending the brass crutch wire and with no door or access through the back of the case, adjusting the beat on this clock is difficult to impossible once the movement is mounted in the case. For an 8-day time and strike clock, this is a very small and compact movement, but there is ample room in the case for a larger more conventional movement. The thin narrow springs do make this clock very easy to wind but it takes a lot of turns to do so. Someone with little strength in their hands would appreciate the small force required to turn the key. The strike control levers, especially the count lever, are extremely short and adjustment must be precise. When servicing this clock one is advised to check carefully for worn strike control lever pivot hole wear and install bushings if the the levers are lose. There is no helper spring on the count lever and the clock should work OK that way but the addition of a very light brass helper spring will add a measure of insurance against over-strike issues.

These are beautiful clocks and have proven reliable for well over 100 years but they do embody some strange designs and can be challenging to repair.