Expert: Martin Meyer - 11/6/2009

Question
Hi - my daughter in law inherited a Montgomery Ward grandfather clock that was missing a hand and I am wondering if you know where I could get replacement hands.  There seems to be a lot of hands out there but I cannot determine which ones would be the correct size.  Any suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Deb,

Whether or not hands are available for your clock depends on what make of movement is in the clock. There is information stamped on the back plate of the movement which will identify it. If you are not sure from the information stamped on the back plate what make the movement is, send me a followup with all the information, and I will try to identify it. As a general explanation, there are only four manufacturers that the movement could be. If it is a Hermle or a Kieninger, hands will be available. If it is an Urgos or a Jauch, you may have difficulty finding hands which fit on the hand shafts.

The size of the hands is based on the length of the minute hand. Measure from the center of the hand shaft out to the outside point on the minute ring. The minute ring is the circle outside the numbers which is divided into 60 segments for the minutes. Hand sizes will be listed in catalogs by this dimension. For example "5 inch hands" refers to this measurement. Hands always come in sets, so the hour hand will be proportional to the minute hand. You will not always find a precise match. Sometimes the only available minute hand will only extend out to the numbers, but this is acceptable as long as it isn't so short that it looks odd. You do not want to get a hand that is too long, or it will hit the glass or the bezel.