Cuckoo clock - a symbol of home comfort (22 photos)

A clock mechanism enclosed in a box or fixed on a flat surface, we see only two (three) sharp hands showing time in that corner of the globe where they are located. Watches can be very different:

• wall mounted;
• desktop
• wrist.

This is not a complete list of executions. Everyone will remember a few more types of exotic and everyday time indicators. Their function is not limited to the exact measurement of hours, minutes and seconds. Very often they serve as interior decoration, a bright accessory, an accent that emphasizes the style of the room.

Still coming

Wall clocks more often than others fulfill this role. Legendary watches with a fight, with metal weights on old chains and shiny Roman numerals decorated the living rooms of the last century, laconic square with large Arabic numerals could be seen in public places: at stations, post offices, shops. What about a cute cuckoo clock? They wrote verses and songs about them, they were an integral attribute of a village hut and a rural house. Moreover, not every family could afford to buy a watch. Therefore, the happy owners hung them on public display as a luxury item.

Today, ancient mechanisms are everywhere replaced by electronic devices with bright LED lights or projection clocks that project numbers on any plain plane. However, new technologies cannot completely replace retro-watches. A return to folk traditions and roots is gaining more and more popularity among interior designers and vintage lovers. In our review, a cuckoo clock.

Device

Germany is considered their homeland, where local watchmakers created their prototype, which instantly became popular among the population. The usual clock mechanism with a fight is the cuckoo wall clock. Here, instead of a sonorous battle at regular intervals equal to half an hour and an hour, imitation of cuckoo singing is included. Sometimes it is accompanied by additional noise, for example, the sound of a gong or a simple one-act melody resembling a music box.

A similar arrangement of watches has remained unchanged since the 18th century, only slightly changing due to the use of new materials. Its basis is the usual basic "walkers". The mechanism on which the arrows are mounted, reaching a certain phase, automatically starts the sound of two wooden whistles and the movement of the bird's figure on the bracket. This creates a picture familiar from early childhood: a small click is heard from an elegant little house with arrows and drawings, a small door opens and a bird “flies out”.

The Bird of Happiness

In the antique market, cuckoo clocks are mechanical in perfect condition, with a working mechanism not easy to find. The best copies are in private collections and state museums. But if you are lucky, and when disassembling unnecessary trash in the attic of a wooden house, you find a similar object, do not rush to throw it out or urgently sell it to buyers for a bargain price.

Carefully evaluate their performance, belonging to a period of time and the materials from which they are produced. Perhaps you have a real treasure in your hands! After a careful and detailed assessment of antique specialists and watchmakers, it will be possible to make an informed decision: leave them as a family heirloom or sell them.

New reading

What about those who do not have a wonderful old attic with antique gizmos, but still want to create a vintage interior in a country house? There is an exit! P

The industry offers excellent cuckoo clocks. You can buy them in the online store by choosing a model that is likely to wake up childhood memories: a traditional miniature house, to which black weights are suspended on chains or a more concise design without weights and decor.

The normal operating mode of an electronic device is 24 hours. It sets the time interval when the “cuckoo” will be turned on or, conversely, turned off. It is very convenient and allows you to use the clock in the children's room, bedroom and studio without fear that the sound will be heard in the middle of the night. In some models, you can set not only the time interval, but also the counter of the days of the week, by setting “Crowing” on weekdays. The electronic cuckoo clock is powered by mains or batteries.

Fashionable and inexpensive

So we can say about the quartz cuckoo clock. Own forest clearing in the house, creating coziness, where the "cuckoo" is distributed only at the request of the owners. Here, as well as the electronic version of the watch, it is possible to turn off the sound for the night - not only the cuckoo, but also the sound of the pendulum. This will not affect the course of the clock at all, they will still count the exact time.

There is a clock with a built-in photocell: according to the darkness that has arrived in the room, they “understand” that the night has come and are being switched to silent mode. When the night light or TV is lit, the photocell may turn off, so arrange them so that there is no directional beam. There are many watches with quartz movement in Korea, China, Russia, Germany.

A gift for all time

The most expensive and popular are cuckoo clocks made by German craftsmen. They represent a true work of modern art.

In addition to the traditional cuckoo, they are equipped with wonderful moving figures emerging from a fabulous house with a patterned roof. Their cost starts from fifteen thousand rubles, depending on the configuration and size.

More budget options for watches are made by Korea. Here there are mini-watches in different colors and different stylistic directions: imitation of a wooden house of dark and light colors, bright plastic, a beautifully decorated dial with floral ornaments. The “crowing” of modern cuckoos is different from the sound of the 18-19th century. Today, in her repertoire, gentle birdsong, a slight splash of water, the murmur of a brook.

Contrary to the popular belief that a watch cannot be given, we propose to consider a cuckoo clock as a gift for an anniversary, housewarming, or wedding. If there are still doubts about the correctness of the gift, take a coin or a note of small dignity from the donee - so the gift will be considered a win-win deal!