Vintage German Vienna-Style Walnut Regulator Wall Clock. Roman numerals on the face, with a seconds hand in a small circle just above the center. Hand carved decorative columns with figural accents and two brass weights. Likely produced in the early 1900s based on the style and the label on the back. 

Size: 20 x 6 x 50 in. 

Regulator clocks were first developed in England around 1720 when typical clocks of the day were only accurate to within about 5 minutes per week, but regulators were powered by a weighted and geared mechanism, using gravity to be accurate to within 10 seconds per month when properly adjusted. These clocks were initially used in observatories and clock and watch shops as the standard of accuracy during repairs, synchronization, and manufacturing, and by the mid-19th Century regulators were being mass-produced in Vienna, Austria. Regulators gained prominence in America in the late 1800s as the time standard in railroad stations of every town, where employees would synchronize their pocket watches to them several times a day to help to reduce the number of train collisions, and the name first became common then, eventually displayed on most clocks in the style by the 1920s. Rather than being a specific brand, the name is a testament to their heritage “regulating” time and protecting lives.

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