Antique Bracket Clocks, in the US often known as shelf clocks, were made around the same time as their much bigger relatives, longcase clocks. Many famous London makers not only made longcases but also made bracket clocks too. From the mid 1600s their cases were made from woods like walnut, mahogany and rosewood.
Carriage Clock Quite often these clocks were known as spring clocks because instead of a long weighted pendulum they relied on a coiled spring to provide the power to drive the mechanism, with a short pendulum. Bracket Clocks don't appear to have been gained popularity with clock makers outside of London and therefore almost all top-quality examples are from the British capital.
The dial followed a similar progression through styles and fashions as the longcase, with a square dial made of brass and a chapter ring added on top appearing first. Later, around the early 1700s, the arched dial became more prolific around the 1760s and from then on clocks gained more decoration and enhancement to the clock case with the use of finials, arched tops and frets.
English Watch Fusee EscapementA device called a fusee, a watch fusee is shown on the right, allows the antique bracket clock to unwind its main spring in a uniform manner, allowing a constant force to be exerted on the mechanism as it unwinds. This is the clock's main difference from the longcase. All these clocks used a verge escapement, however this mechanism was often replaced by the much more accurate anchor escapement. This is something you should look out for in these clocks as their value can be affected as a result.
Junghans 8-Day Bracket ClockThe mid 1800s saw the US producing large quantities of antique bracket clocks, to the detriment of English clocks. The US had mastered the art of mass-production and had machines capable of churning out very accurate small parts, much to the amazement of the Swiss when they sent someone to investigate why they weren't exporting so many watch movements to the US.
Europe also produced a large quantity of clocks that proved very popular in England. In the collectors' market today there are many fine clocks available from all these areas.
The bracket clock may be a good clock to start with for a collector because they do not suffer from the same problems as the longcase clock, namely movements relocated in incorrect cases which can lead to large variations in price versus value.
Bracket clock movements are almost always found in their original cases and not many clocks have been faked. Another big plus is size - most antique bracket clocks are small enough that you can collect several and not worry too much about moving (either them or you)!