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In the late Biedermier period (around 1840) the cases were more ornate in
appearance (the one pictured is not more ornate in apperance, but it was made
circa 1855). Some appeared with half or three quarter columns on the door - full
rounded columns were a sign of the Altdeutsch style. As the years passed more
ornamentation and more carvings were added to the cases. Rosewood, walnut,
maple, pear, mahogany, and burled woods were commonly used on these cases.
Typically a two-piece porcelain dial was used, but flat dials were still
occasionally seen. The engine bezel could have been used during this period
however a very heavy, ornate pie crust bezel was used during most of this
period. The plain brass bezel appeared around 1850. The hands became more
ornate as the period progressed and passed out of the straight, simple, elegant
hands of the early Biedermier and Empire periods.
Plain brass weights and pendulum bob were used. Engraving was very rare and
didn't appear until the advent of the Serpentine/Second Baroque/Altdeutsch
periods. The pendulum bob typically had brass on both sides up until around
1850 when it appeared with a metal backing (zinc). However, zinc or lead
backings could be found as early as 1830.
Pendulum rods were usually wood with some steel and Invar steel rods being
used at the beginning of the period. Movement mounts were both the wood
(where the movement would slide in) and the brass type (where the movement
would affix to four posts that fit - and lock into place - in four holes in the
backplate of the movement. The coil or gong chime was used, with rode coming
into effect later in the period. The one and three-weight movements were still
predominant, but the two-weight movement could be found more often as time went
on.
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