Expert: Martin Meyer - 4/1/2008

Question
I have a nice old Junghans mantle clock that needs a new convex glass. I have the right size glass. How do I attach it to the bezel? There is no eextra bezel ring and bezel clips do not seem to work

Answer
Hi Jack,
    Glasses attach in a number of different ways, so I can't know what is the correct method for your clock.
    If there is definitely no missing retaining ring, the most common method is small tabs of thin brass bent at an angle and soldered to the inside of the bezel. If this is how the glass was originally held, there should be traces of solder on the bezel where the original tabs were located. There are also tabs with screw holes in them; in this case you should be able to see the pairs of screw holes on the inside of the bezel.
    If there are no solder traces or screw holes, the glass was probably held by a retaining ring of some sort. In this case, there would probably some sort of groove or shoulder on the inside of the bezel to hold the ring.
    Clock supply houses like Timesavers, Merritts Antiques or Empire Clock have various types of tabs available. For a retaining ring, you would probably have to fabricate something out of a strip of flat brass or brass wire.