A Black Forest Industrial Manufacturer
Philipp Haas & Söhne was based in St. Georgen in the Black Forest and, according to the surviving record, traced its origins to 1831. The company began manufacturing its own clocks in the 1860s and developed into a major industrial producer with a broad range including Black Forest clocks, cuckoo clocks, alarm clocks, longcase clocks, eight-day clocks, and novelty pieces.
England and the United States were important export markets. That international orientation becomes particularly relevant because the surviving chess-clock example in the surviving record carries a British documentary trail.
A Rare 1907 Chess Clock
The surviving clock is reported as having been sold in 1907. The collector source cited in the surviving record said he had never seen another example like it. The clock uses two broad dials behind a single rectangular front glass panel and is housed in a decorated wooden case.
Its appearance differs from later standardized chess clocks. Floral decoration and individual sliding brass- or gold-colored controls give the clock the character of an industrially produced decorative timepiece adapted to the specialized requirements of chess.
What remains unknown is whether this was a very low-production Haas chess-clock model or merely a rare survivor from a larger output that has mostly disappeared. The available evidence does not resolve that question, and the website should not pretend to.
A British Label on a German Clock
The rear of the clock carries a damaged label that reads in part “Maker and inventor of … (Timing) Machine Eclipse Patent No. 8381” and gives an address at 125 Knowsley Road in St. Helens, Lancashire. The label was later cut by a viewing hole in the rear door, leaving the text incomplete.
Because Haas had established export markets, the evidence supports treating the object as German manufacture with a British provenance or patent question rather than reclassifying the clock as British. That distinction is sensible within the evidence available: the identified manufacturer is German, while the British label may concern distribution, a patented mechanism, or another layer of the clock's history.
Construction, Repairs, and Survival
The rear door opens onto the movements. The source cited in the surviving record reports a small internal vial of mercury that was said to prevent oxidation, while a watchmaker who serviced the clock told the collector that it had already undergone earlier repairs. The recorded dimensions are approximately 23.3 centimeters long, 13 centimeters high, and 10 centimeters deep.
These details matter because surviving clocks are not untouched time capsules. Repairs, holes cut into cases, replaced parts, and later labels can complicate attempts to reconstruct original manufacture. The Haas clock is valuable precisely because its surviving history is layered rather than pristine.
Historical Significance and Open Questions
The clock combines four unusual elements: an identifiable Black Forest industrial maker, a reported 1907 chess-timer date, decorative construction unlike later standardized cases, and a British “Eclipse” patent trail.
The next research target identified by the available evidence is Patent No. 8381. If drawings or specifications can be securely connected to the label, they may clarify whether the British claim concerned the switching system, the timing mechanism, distribution rights, or something else entirely.
Until then, the clock should be presented as a rare German Haas chess clock with unresolved British documentary context.