A French clock is a clock made in France, a term most often used for the elegant mantel and table clocks produced there from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. French clockmaking was organised on a large scale, with movements frequently made in specialist workshops and then cased and finished in Paris, giving consistently good quality at reasonable cost.
Eighteenth-century French clocks were luxury objects, housed in gilt-bronze, Boulle or porcelain-mounted cases that matched the fashions of the Louis XV and Louis XVI periods. In the nineteenth century French manufacturers exported clocks throughout the world, including mantel clocks with round movements, often striking the hours and half-hours on a bell, set in cases of ormolu, marble, slate, bronze or spelter. Many were sold as garnitures with matching side ornaments, and carriage clocks became a French speciality. Makers such as Japy Frères, Vincent et Cie and Marti are frequently found stamped on movements, sometimes with exhibition medals. Provincial Comtoise or Morbier wall clocks form a distinct country tradition. Collectors look for original dials, hands and pendulums, a matching case and movement, and good condition of gilding and enamel.
