How to Identify Electric Clocks

Traditional timepieces gain their power from weights and springs. Experiments in driving clock mechanisms with electricity date back to the 1850s, but it wasn't until the 1920s that electric clocks were widely used. Electric clocks fall into different categories -- clocks whose entire timekeeping function is performed by circuitry and those known as 'electrically impulsed," where a mechanical device controls the clock's workings but is in turn is triggered by an electrical power source. You should have no difficulty in telling an electrical clock apart from a mechanical one if you follow these simple steps.

Instructions

1. • 1

     Look at the face first. If you see the word 'Quartz', then the clock is purely electronic. Some electrically impulsed clocks incorporate the power source into their names, for example the Smiths Sectric wall-clock.

   • 2

     Inspect the back of the clock for any pieces made out of plastic. The backs of clockwork timepieces are usually wooden or metal, while Quartz clocks mostly have plastic backs.

   • 3

     Check the back for a battery compartment, circuitry or any kind of wiring. A clockwork timepiece will not have any of these.