Mantel Clock Converted to Seiko Quartz with Winchester Chimes

We’ve been asked many times over the last couple of years if a clock can still chime after conversion to a modern quartz movement. The answer was always NO. The reason was – there were some chiming movements out there but they were just too “tinny” and sounded well .. pretty horrid. Not anymore – these new Seiko movements with Winchester Chimes are very realistic – a lovely deep mellow sound that’s hard to decide if it’s “real” or not.

First Customer Commission with Winchester Chimes

I was really pleased when I received an email from a potential client with a traditional Napolean Hat clockwork Mantel Clock. The movement was damaged beyond economical repair and the customer wanted to see if we could a) convert it to quartz and b) resurrect the chimes. The results can be seen in the videos and photos on this page. The price for this conversion incorporating the Seiko Winchester Chimes movement is between £100-£115 (send me some photos for an estimate)

Looks and SOUNDS the same as it did 60 years ago

The clockwork to quartz conversion went really well from start to finish. The hands were reworked so they could fit the Euro Fitting of the Seiko quartz movement. “Fake” winders were made to fill the holes were spring barrels used to be. The aim with this conversion is the same as all the other one’s – to give the clock back to the customer looking just like it used to. We don’t want to stick cheap plastic or painted tin hands on, or change the dial for a new Chinese version. We want to maintain the patina and provenance of the clock (unless the customer wants us to give it a FULL MAKEOVER that is).

DIY Clock Conversion anyone?

If you want to try it yourself – please pop over to our DIY Clock Conversion page with a range of Quartz Clock Movement Kits – everything thing you need to either build or convert a clock.

Get in touch today

If you have a clock that needs converting to BATTTERY and some general TLC – please get in touch today