upcycling, downcycling, recycling, restoring, repairing and producing wall clocks, grandfather clocks and mantel clocks in the Comtoise Clock Museum.
In the workshop of the Comtoise Clock Museum we repair and restore mechanical clocks, i.e. defective clocks are returned to a functional condition or repaired. Restoring a clock always includes a repair, but a repair does not necessarily include a restoration. Classic examples of a repair are the replacement of a broken winding spring, the bushing of a leaked bearing, the replacement of a pendulum spring or hands, the replacement of the old clock oil with fresh clock oil, etc. A clockwork that was normally operational and was put out of operation due to a defect that had arisen was fixing the same again.
The original condition of a clock has often been lost over the centuries or decades. Oxidation of metals as well as improper repairs or changes have left their marks. The restoration of such a clock not only eliminates all technical defects, but also aims to return the clock to the condition it had at the beginning of its existence.
The rusted or dirty, oily movement must be completely reworked, i.e. all defective movement parts must be reworked, but missing movement parts or housing parts may also need to be replaced. All of this work must be carried out in accordance with the workmanship and style so that the restoration can return it to its original condition.
On the one hand, the term restoration is used as a political term, too, but on the other hand, it is also an old term from the 19th and early 20th centuries for a gastronomic establishment - a restaurant. In politics, restoration is understood to mean the restoration of an earlier, political social order. The Congress of Vienna, also known as the Age of Restoration, attempted to restore the old monarchical social order of the 18th century after the Napoleonic defeat in 1815.
Clocks, i.e. large clocks (wall clocks, grandfather clocks, mantel clocks) are also produced in the workshop of the Comtoise Clock Museum both as new and as upcycling production.
New production: We produce new clocks using currently manufactured movements (our own movements and third-party movements) and accessories, which we mainly manufacture ourselves. For example, we have been producing enamel dials, but also hands and decorative parts, for almost 50 years.
Upcycling: We use repaired or restored clock movements, especially Comtoise clock movements, and enamel dials, hands and decorative parts currently produced in order to produce new clock models that have never existed before. There is an upgrading of old clock parts, in this case the clock movements, which come back onto the market in higher quality products, come back into the economic cycle and thus save resources. In any case, it is more sustainable to use restored or repaired clock movements that have already distinguished themselves hundreds of thousands of times through their solidity than to use newly produced clock movements, especially since there is no adequate supply from the clock industry. Our exclusive models can currently only be manufactured using upcycled clockworks.
Downcycling would mean the opposite of upcycling: there is a devaluation of the products or their components, which come back onto the market in inferior products. Old clock parts would come back into the economic cycle and save resources, but we do not build such clocks because the components required for our models are not available as old parts.
We have been talking about recycling for a long time, because reusable waste is processed and transformed into new raw materials, which then come back into the economic cycle in new products. But not only waste, but also any item that is reprocessed in a recycling process and finds a new or different use is considered recycled. Classic examples can be found thousands of times at flea markets and antique markets.
