German Ship’s Bell Clock Repair

Ship's Bell clocks strike the ship’s bell strike sequence (hour and half-hour) and run 8 days on a winding. See the bottom of this page for a chart of the ship's bell striking sequence.


Seth Thomas "Helmsman"

Seth Thomas Helmsman ship's bell clock

The back of the case is labeled: Cat. 1008, Helmsman-W, Model E537-001, Seth Thomas, Div. of General Time Corp., Thomaston, Conn., U.S.A. The bottom of the dial is labeled: Made in Germany.

This model was made from about the 1960s to the 1980s. It has a brass case, an engraved, silvered dial, a screw-on bezel, and uses a movement made in Germany by Hermle.

Install new movement: $810, plus $45 shipping and handling (in the U.S.). The new movement has a two-year warranty and is nearly identical to the original movement. The only difference is that the operation of the “Strike - Silent” lever is reversed. Please see our shipping instructions below.

Seth Thomas "Corsair"

The back of the case is labeled E537-000. The dial is marked “Made in Germany” at the bottom. This clock is similar to the Helmsman illustrated above, but the case has no ships wheel.

Install new movement: $810, plus $45 shipping and handling (in the U.S.). The new movement has a two-year warranty and is nearly identical to the original movement. The only difference is that the operation of the “Strike - Silent” lever is reversed. Please see our shipping instructions below.

 

Schatz "Royal Mariner"

Schatz Royal Mariner dialSchatz Royal Mariner ships bell clock

The Royal Mariner was made in the 1960s and 1970s. It has a 4 7/8 inch dial and the rear flange diameter is 7 inches. It has a brass case, a white painted dial with Arabic numerals, and has the fast-slow regulator at the top of the dial and the strike shutoff to the left of the numeral "3".

Schatz has been out of business for many years, and some parts for these clocks are hard or impossible to find. I can install a new German mechanical movement, and new dial and hands to go with it. The dial is similar to the original and says "Royal Mariner", but doesn't have the Schatz trademark. The new movement does not strike as loudly as the original (it is much quieter).

 

New Royal Mariner dialThe Royal Mariner clock after the new dial and movement have been installed

Install new movement and dial: $890, plus $45 shipping and handling (in the U.S.) This conversion can be done to clocks that look like the one above. The new movement has a two-year warranty. The new movement does not strike as loudly as the original (it is much quieter). Please see our shipping instructions below.

Here is a clock with the new movement and dial installed, and a photo of the new dial.

 

Hermle Ship's Bell Clock

Hermle ship's bell striking clock from the 1960's

This model was made about the 1960s or 1970s and is marked “Hermle” and “Germany” on the dial.

Install new movement: $950, plus $45 shipping and handling (in the U.S.). The new movement has a two-year warranty and is nearly identical to the original movement. The only difference is that the operation of the “Strike - Silent” lever is reversed.

Sending a Ship's Bell Clock To Us For Movement Replacement:

Please contact us before sending your clock.

Please enclose a note with your e-mail address, name, address and phone number. I will e-mail you when the clock arrives, let you know how soon I can have it done, and send you an estimate if necessary. If you want something done instead of movement replacement, please contact us.

Preparing Your Clock: On the "Helmsman", please unscrew and remove the spokes and case ring and send just the clock. If your Royal Mariner has spokes, please remove them if possible.

Wrapping: Wrap the clock in three to four layers of bubble wrap.

Packing: Use packing peanuts for padding the wrapped clock.

Payment: Please send a check with the clock for the price of the new movement plus shipping (as listed above).

Ship's bell (ships bell) strike is based on "watches" onboard ship of 4 hours each. A new watch starts at noon, 4 p.m., 8 p.m., midnight, 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. The end of a "watch" and start of a new watch is marked by the bell being struck 8 times. A half hour later, the bell is struck once, with an additional strike each half hour until the end of the watch. Then the cycle starts again. The bells are struck in pairs, that is, the first two bells are struck close together followed by a pause, then the next two, etc. The table below shows the pattern of the bells:

Time Number of
Bells Struck
Pattern of Bells
4:00 8:00 12:00 8 Bells xx xx xx xx
4:30 8:30 12:30 1 Bell  x
5:00 9:00 1:00 2 Bells xx
5:30 9:30 1:30 3 Bells xx x
6:00 10:00 2:00 4 Bells xx xx
6:30 10:30 2:30 5 Bells xx xx x
7:00 11:00 3:00 6 Bells xx xx xx
7:30 11:30 3:30 7 Bells xx xx xx x
8:00 12:00 4:00 8 Bells xx xx xx xx

New Hermle ship's bell clocks for sale