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Keeping time with grandfather clocks
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Can you buy a grandfather clock these days? Yes, you can, if you have a room large enough for one.
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Grand: A huge grandfather clock made in Thrissur.
When you feel that exquisite furniture alone is not enough to embellish your home, here is a choice: grandfather clocks. Maybe it was a part of your childhood. But, with the passage of years these clocks became a rarity. Many people might have no idea of how they looked like.
But, a small hamlet named Kottapdi in Thrissur district is making these grand-looking grandfather clocks today. The elegant clocks made here are sold even in the UAE and Singapore.
Grandfather clocks are used to add elegance to a house; you would not be interested in them if your idea is to merely have a device that displays the time. In fact, a lot of hard of work goes into the making of the grandfather clocks.
Finely crafted
It starts with the cutting of the wooden log (usually rosewood or mahogany) – the raw material – to size, which is then smoothened. The work is done artistically for different models and the fittings in brass and the finely crafted pendulum and machinery is fixed only in the last stage.
Some clocks work on spring movement and others on weight. The weights descend to the bottom of the cabinet once in 15 days and they have to be restored to the original position by pulling chains.
The dial is made of brass. When the work is over, the grandfather clock will look like an old, traditional almirah. And some of them, like the almirah, harbour space enough for keeping mementos and the like. Run mechanically, they need winding once a week.
“Even after bringing in exquisite furniture and beautifully designed chairs and table, I felt there was vacant space in my large visitors’ room. It was then I heard about grandfather clocks being made here. Having placed one in the room, it looks so grand. In fact it’s a bit nostalgic too to hear its chime,” says Lakshmi, a housewife.
The price ranges from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 35,000. The height from 78" to 85".
KUNDUR SATHYA NARAYANAN
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