In Our Opinion

From time to time I will be adding comments to this section of the website about general information and tips for selection of a new cuckoo clock or repairs of an older clock. Also, many of the questions that I get from my customers are very good ones and deserve consideration by making them available to all!!!
 
There are many cuckoo clock manufacturers located in the Triberg area of Germany and all of are of first quality.
 
Most of the manufacturers install the time tested “Regula” series movements in their clocks. Regula has been in the business for many many years and are quite good at making quality cuckoo movements.
 
Regula designates their current day movements as;
 
Regula 25       20 hour movement (one day)
Regula 34         8 day movement
Regula 72         8 day movement
 
All of the above will have additional numbers stamped on them such as e.g. 19.5cm, 23.5cm and usually a date code in the form of a letter eg. A,B,C etc.
 
The cm mark denotes the distance of the pendulum drop from the center of the handshaft to the bottom of the pendulum stick. This is critical in selecting the correct pendulum hanger wire or a new pendulum stick if you are buying one to replace a lost one. An incorrect match will certainly effect the time the clock keeps.
 
After many years of service and repair on cuckoo clock movements, Regula is the winner. However, the 72 series of their movements have proved to be the most hard to service, difficult to troubleshoot and basically unreliable movement in their line.
 
Hubert Herr is also a manufacturer of cuckoo clock movements that are installed in their clocks.
 
Their movements “IN OUR OPINION” are the most difficult and un-reliable in the industry, if Hubert Herr would incorporate Regula cuckoo movements in their product, life would be “just a bowl of cherries’.
 
Truly speaking, Hubert Herr movements are “junk!” A recent example of problems incurred, I had to replace an 8 day Herr movement in one of our customers’ clocks because of the condition of the old movement. After ordering two separate brand new units, we could not get either to run properly. The gearing on the dancing tables would bind and stop the music from playing. This is time consuming and costly for us to do. I ended up returning both movements. The owner bought a new clock. It was certainly not a Hubert Herr.
 
Furthermore, after staining their cottages, they do not put a protective coating of lacquer on them, causing color fade over time.