Guides › Domestic objects

Identifying clock and watch parts

Gears, fusees, winding keys, and time's mechanical litter.

Timepiece debris is distinctive once known: brass gears with fine regular teeth, watch plates with engraved makers' names and serial numbers, the cone-shaped fusee from early movements, balance cocks (often beautifully pierced and engraved in the 18th century), winding keys, and pocket-watch cases (frequently silver, with hallmarks).

Winding keys are the commonest find — cranked or straight, with a square socket; sizes were standardised by number. An engraved balance cock is collectable in its own right. Case backs carry hallmarks and case-makers' initials that date precisely.

Distinguish clock brass from general machine gears by fineness and by tell-tale engraving. Record tooth counts, diameters, inscriptions verbatim, and hallmarks; a watch plate's serial number can sometimes be traced through makers' records to a sale year.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on domestic objects

Identifying mirrors — Polished metal discs.

Identifying oil lamps — Nozzle, filling hole, and mold.

Identifying clay tobacco pipes — Bowl shape and heel marks.

Identifying agricultural tools — Sickles, billhooks, plough irons, and the seasons written in iron.

Identifying fishing gear — Hooks, net weights, and line sinkers from rivers, lakes, and coasts.

Identifying spindle whorls and loom weights — The flywheels and tensioners of home textile production.

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