What's the best wind-up alarm clock for under $100?

October 12, 2008 6:32 PM

I prefer wind-up clocks to digital. I find their tone to be more pleasant. My main problem is finding an accurate one. All the ones I've seen have two problems.

a) They lose time too quickly. The one I have currently loses about 30 minutes between the time I wind it up before bed and the morning. I have to set the alarm back a little to get the right wake up time.
b) Some have a soft alarm. If I set the alarm for 7:00, I don't want it going off at either 6:45 or 5:15.

Also, I've noticed that the ones that seem decent look dorky. I'm looking for something that's stylish—gold or silver tone.

posted by snookums to home & garden (5 answers total)

Are you sure that your clock doesn't have a way to adjust for running slow. It's been a while since I had a wind-up clock, but the ones I had never ran as poorly as what you are describing, and as I recall, most had an adjustment. Often it was an arc shaped slit that provided access to a lever that you could tweak with a pin or a pencil tip or something.

I can't help with the rest.
posted by Good Brain at 7:36 PM on October 12, 2008

I tried switching to wind-ups for a while. Here's what I found:

-Ebay is FULL of people selling their old wind-ups. You can find virtually any model you like, any price range, any condition, any size, any features. There's really that much choice.

-Virtually all models have a lever where you can adjust the tension of the spring (and thus speed up or slow down the clock slightly). In the better models the lever is readily visible on the back, for others you may have to open the back. You will have to painstakingly experiment with the lever, adjusting it just a hair each time, then waiting to see if its still losing/gaining time. Also this isnt an exact science, even after weeks of tweaking it, all analog clocks will still lose or gain time over a period of months, you will have to periodically correct it, but you can get it so its maybe every few months rather than every few days.

-You're better off paying a little extra and getting a wind-up that lasts for a week (rather than having to wind it every night). The week-long wind-ups do exist, they're much more convenient. I thought I'd like the nightly ritual of winding the clocks (like my grandfather used to do). But in all honestly, I got *so* tired of it very quickly. A weekly one would really be better.

-as far as soft alarms -- the problem I saw on the ones I bought on ebay to try out, was in every single case the alarm was way too LOUD. A mechanical wind up alarm, where a hammer hits a bell inside the clock, very very jarring, very very loud (though, effective).

In the end I went back to good old digital/electronic ones, though I spent some time to get a model I liked a lot and that didnt look hideous. Among the things I decided in the end I could not live without: Snooze button, radio, twin alarms, nap timers. The digital clock I have now rocks ;)

I did though buy and keep a tiny (and very cute) wind-up TRAVEL alarm clock (that folds into its own case). It makes sense cuz I dont have to worry about batteries, and only use it for a single night or two at a time when travelling.
posted by jak68 at 7:52 PM on October 12, 2008

Do not wind your watch just before going to bed. Wind it when you get up in the morning.
If you have been wearing it in the evening, it will be warm. If you wind it when it's warm, and then put it down, the spring will cool and try to shrink, and not be able to because it's already tight. Repeatedly doing this will eventually make the spring break.

This doesn't have anything to do with your accuracy problem; I just thought I'd mention it.

As to the problem, mechanical watches have adjustments to make them run faster or slower. What they do is change the spring tension on the flywheel. The adjustment should be easily reached just by popping off the back of the watch. Sometimes it's a screw, and sometimes a lever, but it'll be obvious, because it'll be right next to the flywheel.
posted by Class Goat at 7:58 PM on October 12, 2008

Ah, I see that you're talking about alarm clocks.

There should be an equivalent adjustment accessible in the back of a wind-up alarm clock, too.
posted by Class Goat at 8:00 PM on October 12, 2008

I just looked at the back of my clock and realized that there is an adjustment. I just assumed that it adjusted the alarm sound. I'll try tweaking it.
posted by snookums at 10:02 PM on October 12, 2008