Workshop visits by appointment only · Tonbridge, Kent
Carriage, longcase, bracket, French and mystery clocks — repaired, restored and conserved by a clockmaker accredited by the British Horological Institute.
Workshop visits by appointment only in Tonbridge, Kent.
Accreditation by the British Horological Institute is a different thing entirely. It calls for examined qualifications and a portfolio of real repair work, written up and assessed. John Mathieson holds it, and appears on the BHI's public register of accredited repairers — around 180 people nationally, of whom roughly 137 are listed for clock repair.
If yours looks like one of these, we can almost certainly help. We also work on Vienna regulators — and if yours isn't here at all, ask anyway.
Grandfather and grandmother clocks
Precision instruments as well as furniture. This dial is from the Bristol longcase further down the page.
A speciality Including miniatures under three inches
Fine, small-scale work, and John's particular strength — far fewer repairers take it on.
Usually fusee-driven
The grooved cone in the photograph is the fusee, which evens out the pull of the mainspring as it runs down.
Including rare and unusual pieces
This is the movement of the swing clock at the top of the page, stamped 'Échappement breveté' — patented escapement.
Including Guilmet
Clocks whose pendulum swings with no visible means of driving it.
Send a photograph and we will tell you what it is and whether we can help.
Send a photoMost jobs are repairs. Some are conservation, which is a different discipline with a different aim.
Getting a clock running properly again, and keeping it that way. Full strip-down and inspection, cleaning, bushing worn pivot holes, burnishing pivots, escapement and strike work, then reassembly with the right lubricants. Where a part is missing or beyond repair, we make a new one.
Clock repair
For pieces where the object matters as much as the timekeeping. The clock is examined, documented and researched before anything is touched, and original material is kept wherever it can be repaired rather than replaced. John will also advise on handling, display and preventive care at home.
Restoration and conservationEight-day longcase clock by Still, Old & Co., Bristol
Adam and Eve are automata: painted figures that move in the arch of the dial. The brass of the originals was in poor condition, so to conserve their original paintwork John made new figures, using the originals as templates — with a new arm for Adam, and a complete serpent and collet, which were missing. He also designed and made the levers that drive the figures, and a new nag's head and lever to drive the moon's-age dial.
See more previous work
Racks, levers, gathering pallets, springs, stop work: if a part is missing or beyond saving, it is made here — drawn out first in CAD where the geometry matters. That is what keeps an original clock original rather than part-replaced.
There is no licence to call yourself a clock repairer. The BHI register is the closest thing to one, and John is on it — assessed on examined qualifications and a portfolio of written-up repairs.
A worn part can usually be repaired rather than swapped out. Keeping original material is better for the clock and better for its value — replacing it is the last resort, not the first.
Clock Care serves Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and the surrounding towns, but the catchment is much wider. Clocks arrive from well beyond Kent.
Email is usually easiest, and a photograph helps a great deal. Tell us what the clock is doing — or has stopped doing.
The workshop is in Tonbridge and visits are by appointment only, so please arrange a time before travelling.
The clock is examined and you are told what it needs and what it will cost. Nothing is carried out until you have agreed to it.
Email is the surest way to reach us and a photograph is always welcome. If you would rather speak to someone, please call — and do leave a message if there is no answer.
