An interesting Self Winding Clock Company movement with a Gravity Escapement

The Self Winding Clock company was formed in 1886 and marketed an innovative electro-mechanical clock mechanism. The movement incorporated a small electric motor that rewound the mainspring each hour. The vast majority of SWCC clocks have Style “F” movements. They were produced in 60,80,120 and 140 beat versions. These movements appeared in 1898 and are wound hourly by a vibrating armature. The earliest SWCC movements were wound each hour with a rotary motor that was patented in 1884 by Chester Pond, one of the company founders.

In addition to the conventional Style “A”, “C”, and “F” movements the SWCC made a few much larger movements which they designated the Style “E” movement. This movement operated hands for dials up to 50 inches. All styles of SWCC movements have Graham dead beat escapements. The pictured Style “E” movement is a rare exception for it has a Gerry Gravity Escapement.

The Gerry Gravity escapement was patented by James Gerry in 1883. Gerry worked for the E. Howard clock company and later became the Supervisor of the SWCC. The Gerry Gravity escapement is unique for it employs 4 gravity arms rather two gravity arms to operate the escapement. The operating movement can be seen on Youtube by clicking on this link.