Queen Victoria granted the company a Royal Warrant in 1897. This heralded the most productive and profitable years of the business with large numbers of public clocks being installed both home and abroad for cathedrals, churches, town halls, schools, engineering works and railways. In 1862 the business moved to Guildford Street, Leeds, and later, a workshop for public clocks opened nearby in Cookridge Street. Initially the business was primarily concerned with domestic timepieces, however this gradually expanded into the manufacture and repair of public clocks. In 1833, at the age of 24, William moved to Pudsey near Leeds, to set up his own business. William Potts was born in December 1809 and was apprenticed to Samuel Thompson, a Darlington clockmaker. History William Potts Memorial Clock erected by his sons in 1901 in Darlington (his birthplace) Potts of Leeds was a major British manufacturer of public clocks, based in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. You have a quality antique clock, that in itself is something to be proud of.Characteristic hands and face of a Potts clock (Newcastle Cathedral) When you are told a "value" don't "hold your breath" as they say over this side of the great pond. However, not many auction houses in Eire or UK would bother showing a standard "marble". The auction price of something is "what someone will pay for it", because legally, once you bid in auction you are instantly bound to honour your bid, and there is no surrer way of seeing what "someone is prepared to pay" Normally for insurance valuations, Probates and divorces, we consulted auction house catalogues with actual "sold" prices shown. A French neighbour moved house a few months ago and gave me her mercury pendulum, visible escapement clock, because it was just "too heavy to put in the car!" There were so many made, we are tripping over them here in France. In the States they will be higher in price than here, even taking into consideration the thousands of them that were shipped over since the 60s. The "white enamel inset" were more sought after than the "brass inset" type Some people have a preference for "visible" escapements, and they did for a while get better prices, but as Mike says, they are "undervalued" The case is what commands the price more than anything. I was told that "we pay one pound for french marble clocks, and if they have a figures on top, two pounds" 1973. It was the American shippers who put "set" prices on things. You may find something of that sort in a big library, or good bookshop. Some of the "antique price guides" over here, show prices taken off auction and shop lists. I tell my students that if they go into a shop with 1000 in their pocket and see something for 600 and something else for 900, the chances they will buy the 600 item, as they will still have a decent amount of cash left when they go home! He said that a tin of beans has a value that will be known, but if a war breaks out next week, your antiques are worthless, and the beans will go up in price! That really annoyed me, and i said that everything has to have a value. When I first became an antique dealer, my mentor told me "a thing is only worth what somebody will give for it" This is due to the vast quantity of them made. they have always been undervalued on the second hand market. French clocks usually are of very good quality, but their value is purely based on appearance. At least the "muses" featured on the clock castings, when finished discussing Opera, can then knock up a tasty french or Italian meal.Īs to the value of an object like that.
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