North Coast Imports, Inc.

We, at North Coast Imports are very pleased to introduce the NEW Brettluhr! A  Brettluhr  is a "Little Board Clock."  It was a clock that mostly existed in Vienna in the first half of the  Nineteenth Century.  ( Here  and here are original Brettluhr  clocks.)  It appeared in many styles and configurations, but Brettluhren  commonly consisted of a board with a movement mounted to it.  Usually the board didn't have any sides or door which encased the movement. For our version, we decided to use a mechanism which showed off the beauty of the gears.  This "Skeleton" style movement is made in Germany.  It is, of course, made with the best quality materials and according to a time-tested design.  It is a single-train movement with a drop-off bell strike.  In other words, it strikes the sonorous bell once as the minute hand passes the hour. The clock is powered by the pull of gravity on the weight.  By the e...

We're about to introduce an exciting NEW model.  Stay tuned for more info.  AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! SOLID walnut board, made in the U.S.A. with German mechanism.  We're really excited to introduce this new model from Sternreiter.

Here's something interesting we found through the Automata blog . It's a home-built clock/kinetic sculpture with falling sand as the escapement:

I've had some questions on the best way to ship cuckoo clocks. Besides making sure you have enough soft packaging (you should have at least 4 inches of bubble wrap in all directions) you'll want to make sure all of the dangly parts are secure. As I mentioned in a previous post , you'll want to wind your clock first and remove the weights before taking it off of the wall. This will leave only the winding side free. You can wrap these loose chains around the bottom of the clock. In order to keep them in place, stick a rubber band through the rings and hook them onto the clock. It's also very very important to remove the weights and pendulum from their hooks and wrap these separately - perhaps even in a separate box. If the weights aren't tightly packed away from the clock they will become like missiles when the box is in motion. When they come loose they can very easily rip large chunks out of you precious clock's beautiful facade. -Make sure the weights can...

Let's take a quick look at some of the terms that have been mentioned in recent posts.  To do that, we'll start at the basics of how mechanical clocks are usually powered. The clocks featured in recent posts are built before the general use of electricity.   Steam engines would normally be too large and inefficient to power such small devices, plus you would have continually stoke it to keep the clock running over night.  So what powers these clocks? We've discussed examples of the very earliest clocks that run on water power, but the tried and true method of running an accurate timepiece is to harness the power of gravity.  This is the original GREEN power.  Gravity is constantly renewable and reliable.  As long as we have a planet, we have gravity.  Weight-driven clocks also have the advantage of being very accurate.  The force of gravity is always constant in any particular location, so the clock won't speed up or slow down at any point because of an increase or ...

Here are a few words on unpacking your new Black Forest clock. The pictures below are of a Rombach und Haas "Dumpling Eater," but the instructions can also be applied to unpacking almost any Black Forest clock - including Cuckoo Clocks! North Coast Imports, Inc. is proud to use recycled and/or renewable materials in packaging. Enjoy the old-world charm as you unpack your new clock. These cherished pieces are lovingly packed by the careful clock makers in the Black Forest in Germany. After carefully cutting the tape and opening the top of the box (find the top by paying attention to which way the lettering is facing on the ends of the box) lift the cardboard flap to reveal your exciting new timepiece. Using two hands, carefully lift the top of the clock out first and sliding the clock upward and out of the cardboard surrounding the bottom of the clock. The Dumpling Eater figure may have a plastic bag rubber-banded around. Carefully remove the rubber band and bag being carefu...

Clock movements are really very simple, when you compare them to electronics. Brass clock movements are generally not influenced by all but the most extreme static electricity, temperature fluctuations, humidity changes, or magnetic fields. Once all of a clock movement's wheels have turned 1 revolution, there is no reason why they shouldn't keep making those revolutions for at least 2 years time without service unless some physical change has come to them. Unless it has been moved or jostled there is no reason to expect that any modern mechanical clock should develop any new problem after a week's worth of good running. If your clock stopped working properly "out of the clear blue sky," take a moment to double check the following: 1. "Is the clock hanging straight?" Forget about how straight the clock looks on the wall. Use your ears. You should be listening for an even TICK TOCK ( listen ) sound. If you hear an uneven tick TOCK or TOCK tick ( listen ) s...