The Hermle Clock Company

The Hermle (pronounced herm-lee) clock company, along with the Keininger Company, currently produce the lions share of movements for mechanical clocks. (I have discounted the cheap Pacific Rim manufacturers as their movements are, for the most part, substandard and not long lasting.   In this post we are going to explain how you can decipher the meanings of the numbers and letters on the back of your movement.       Hermle uses a 6 or 7 digit number code to designate whether it is spring, chain, or cable driven, the plate size, hammer arrangement, and the hand shaft length.

Back Plate Example:
77
Howard Miller
1161-853
94cm

 

 

"77" is the year of manufacture

"Howard Miller" is who the movement was made for

"1161-853" is the movement model

"94cm" is the pendulum length

 

 Hermle makes movements for various cabinet makers and marks there name onto the movement, so you may have a Hermle movement even it has a different name on it. Some other names made by Hermle are Seth Thomas (the newer Seth), Tally Industries, Howard Miller, Mason & Sullivan and others.

 

Regarding the most recent Hermle movements:

Hermle not only identifies its products with names, but also with numbers.  Hermle did not create these number for the sake of making life more difficult, they do however mean a lot.

For example, 01171-N91161 can be broken down as follows:

0 = category of clock

1171 = the clock reference number

-N9 = type of finish

1161 = type of movement

For reference, Hermle has several clock categories:

0 = Floor clock

2 = Table clock (includes mantel, bracket, barrister style table clocks)

3 and 6 = Wall clock

7 = Regulator clock

Mechanical Movements:

0040 = Barometer feature

0130 = 8-day, 1/2 hr strike, floating balance

0132 = 8-day, Ship's bell strike with escapement

0141 = 14-day, 1/2 hr strike, single chime (Bim-Bam), keywind

0340 = 8-day, 4/4 hr strike, single chime (Westminster), keywind

0341 = 8-day, 4/4 hr strike, single chime (Westminster), keywind, pendulum

0351 = 8-day, 4/4 hr strike, single chime (Westminster), keywind, pendulum

0352 = 8-day, 4/4 hr strike, single chime (Westminster), keywind, 11 jewel escapement

0461 = 8-day, 4/4 hr strike, single chime (Westminster), cable driven, pendulum

90701 = 8-day, 1/1 hr bell strike, skeleton, chain driven, pendulum

0791 = 14-day, 1/1 hr bell strike, skeleton, keywind, pendulum

1050 = 8-day,4/4 hr strike, triple chime (Westminster, St. Michael, Whittington), floating balance

1161 = 8-day, 4/4 hr strike, triple chime (Westminster, St. Michael, Whittington), cable driven, pendulum

 (I added the following on quartz movements for reference as I know many of you have quartz clocks as well)
Quartz Movements:

2100 = non-chiming, time only

2200 = non-chiming, time only, pendulum

2114 = dual melodies (1/2 hr Bim Bam or 4/4 Westminster chime), personalized auto-night off, 1/4 hr selector, volume control, chime shut off selector

2117 = single chime, Ship's Bell strike, 1/4 hr selector, personalized auto-night off, volume control

2214 = dual melodies (1/2 hr Bim Bam or 4/4 Westminster chime), personalized auto-night off, 1/4 hr selector, volume control, chime shut off selector, pendulum

2987 = skeleton with gear train sysytem for Astrolabium

You can find  Hermle finish codes in our model numbers as the first two characters after the dash (ex. shown here as the underlined characters 01171-N91161).

• 03 Walnut
• 07 Mahogany
• 16 European Cherry
• 29 Anthracite
• 32 Alder
• 38 Beech
• 74 Black
• I9 Classic Oak
• N9 Elegant Cherry
• Q1 Antique Walnut
• Q3 Cocoa Walnut
• Q4 Rosewood

And finally where the "77" appears in the back plate illustration above, some of you may have a letter.  In 1988, Hermle switched to a letter code, so "A" = 1988, "B" =  1989, etc. (This goes through Z and then starts again.  So in 2014 we will start with "A" for the date code on a new 26 year cycle)