Introduction:

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The dates of the following chapters are completely fictitious and only entered to ensure a logical order. This blog has actually stretched over three years and the newest chapters have the oldest dates.

The blog format was deliberately chosen for this project to allow much greater flexibility in posting, enlargeable images (by left clicking on them) and regular updating. Some of my once-free websites have had three changes of ISP hosts in as many years. All five of of my originally free websites have now been deleted by (agent) Orange to increase their profits.

Please ignore the automatic post dating completely. Newest chapters are actually the oldest and all dates are completely meaningless anyway. I actually enter the chapter dates manually just to organise the sequence of "chapters" logically. Blogs do not allow automatic reverse dating so new material appears at the bottom of the chapter list.

If you can see only one chapter then click on "Home" at the bottom of the page to view the entire blog from top to bottom. This may suit those with a fast Internet connection. Those still on a slow connection may prefer to select from the chapter list on the left and browse the chapters individually to avoid waiting for all the images to download simultaneously. Most of the images can be clicked on for a larger version. Use your own discretion whether you have the patience to wait and see the larger version download. Enlarged image size will vary but may be up to a maximum of 300kB!

I'd like to thank all of those who have contacted me with information on their Telavox clocks. Particularly those who have shared images and the serial numbers and descriptions of their own clocks. I look forwards to receiving details of your Telavox or Clementa clocks. My new email address appears in the "Database Appeal" chapter below.

Please note that I cannot advise on the value of any Telavox clock. Condition, originality, case style, veneer, age, rarity, dial and even the country in which it resides will all greatly affect the value.

Telavox clocks very rarely come up for auction on eBay. Danish prices are low but the clocks are still very difficult to find. Elsewhere they are even more difficult to find but fetch higher prices for rarity value to clock collectors. eBay auctions will usually find the highest price the market will bear simply due to their huge, international audience. There are large numbers of clock collectors across the world but far fewer who collect electric clocks. This does not mean that electric clocks do not fetch high prices if they are rare enough, in good enough condition and interesting enough to make them desirable. It is impossible to say whether this applies to Telavox clocks since so few ever appear on eBay auctions.

If you cannot get your Telavox running using the simple instructions in the chapters below then please contact a professional clock repairer for advice. I have yet to find a repair guide of any kind so I am really no wiser than you when it comes to adjustments or repairs for non-working examples.

If you know of, or own, a Telavox clock repair guide then I would be very grateful for a copy. A photocopy or computer scan would be very useful.


If you have a repair manual and wish to sell it then please contact me with some idea of the price expected so that I may purchase it (if affordable) and then share the information contained there with a wider audience via this blog.

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The Telavox Clock

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Telavox clocks are easily identified by the lack of winding squares and the unique dial, hands, signature and chapter ring. In this example these features are seen in a very attractive, but slightly unusual, early, Bakelite drum case with wooden foot.

Telavox is pronounced TEE-la-voks in Denmark with the emphasis on the first syllable. It is only in Denmark that these clocks are usually found. Though examples have been taken abroad possibly by emigrants. They are surprisingly difficult to find even in Denmark. As a collector on the constant lookout I rarely see more than one Telavox clock in six months. These clocks attract only very low prices in Denmark. Probably because so few people, including clock repairers, understand them. So dealers cannot get them to run reliably and they are put into storage or discarded along with the now out-of-fashion, mass-produced, clockwork mantle clocks. Or worse: A cheap quartz movement is installed to replace the excellent original Telavox movement in the hope of selling the clock as an unusual "goer". Perhaps to a home decorator with a taste for "retro" but without the usual loud tick of a "clockwork" clock.

Instructions are provided here to get a striking Telavox or later Clementa clock to run:

After checking that the 4.5V battery is in good condition with a voltmeter or 4.5 volt torch bulb (or after replacing the old battery with a matching new one) the clock must be made to strike repeatedly to rewind the going spring. The rewinding and striking is driven by the battery but the going (ticking) is powered by a small spring which is rewound on every strike.

Using the knob provided at the back of the case advance the hands slowly *clockwise* to the next hour or half hour. You must wait patiently to allow the clock to strike each time until it stops by itself. After a few strikes the clock should be rewound and may be left to run after setting the hands to the proper time. The clock will then keep itself fully wound by striking normally at the hour and half hour as it tells the time.

If the clock stops after a while then allow it to strike a few more times by advancing the hands slowly and carefully as described above. Patience will usually be rewarded. Trying to move the hands on too soon may produce a buzzing noise as the clock parts rub against each other. This should be avoided or serious wear may take place.


Later Clementa instructions suggest that the clock be made to strike each hour (and half hour) right around the dial three times.  This is required whenever the clock has not run for a long time or when the battery is replaced.

A non-striking Telavox clock uses a large (and probably obsolete) 3V battery. Polarity may be important even if you can still find a battery. Or use modern batteries to obtain 3V. The original  battery leads had a simple fibre plug with two, odd-sized, brass pins to match the holes in the top of the battery. 

This later chapter illustrates the original batteries:

http://telavox.blogspot.com/2006/08/batteries-old-and-new.html

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