Seth Thomas Clocks

In 1807 Seth Thomas(1785-1859) began his clockmaking career as an apprentice to Eli Terry, one of the more famous designers of this period of time. By 1810 he had demonstrated his own skill at clock design and bought out Mr. Terrys factory in Connecticut and began producing his own wooden movement tall clocks.

When 1817 rolled around Seth Thomas began designing and producing his line of shelf and mantel clocks. He started with pillar and scroll cases decorating them with scenes usually on the bottom third of the case below the clock face. Sometime around 1830, Seth Thomas mantel clocks were often made from carved mahogany.

1842 saw the introduction of brass clock movements replacing wooden movements which were eliminated completely by 1845. The company also began production of its mantel clocks in ogee cases (molding which has a profile of an S-shaped curve) and continued production of this style until 1913.

Conservative in his design and appearance of his clocks, Mr. Thomas sons introduced new clock styles from intricately carved wall clocks to clocks with calendars.

The calendar clocks were particularly popular as kitchen wall clocks. The "Peanut" double dial calendar wall clock is just such an example in that its rosewood veneer case comes to a point at both top and bottom. The company also produced their walnut kitchen clocks from 1884 until 1909.

The main competition for U.S. clock designers in the last half of the 19th century was coming from France. The French were designing clocks from onyx and black marble. Their designs became extremely popular throughout the European community.

To counter this competition U.S. manufacturers designed their clocks to resemble the French style but, manufactured them from iron or wood to hold down costs.

The designers at Seth Thomas clocks had their own response to this competition with a line of marble clocks produced from 1887 to 1895 and iron clocks with a black enamel finish produced from 1892 to 1895. But, the clock that put the Seth Thomas clock company above all others was the Adamantine black mantel clock which made its debut in 1892.

First developed by the Celluloid Manufacturing Company, Adamantine was a veneer later licensed by Thomas. The people at the company recognized the benefits of using Adamantine because of the ease with which it could be made to resemble onyx, wood, and more importantly, marble. This veneer could be produced in black, white, and a variety of patterns to achieve this effect. Due to their popularity, Seth Thomas Adamantine clocks were produced until 1917.

The beginning of the 20th century, 1904 to be exact, saw the introduction of the first Seth Thomas tambour mantel clock. These became a popular choice for placing above a fireplace mantel because of their low,  wide profile.

Among the pre-war 1930s era Thomas clocks were their Art Deco alarm clocks. These clocks were made from a transparent plastic substance called Catalin which could be mixed with dyes for any combination of color or colors. The material could even be marbleized which added to the popularity. These Seth Thomas Art Deco alarm clocks from this era are now highly prized by clock collectors.