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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;afantiques, post: 605514, member: 25&quot;]When this clock was made the alternatives commonly used were bronze and spelter. Both were gilded. It would be extremely uncmmon to find brass, and not bare brass at all. Over the years gilding wears, some clocks nowadays have lost all original gilding or had it poloshed off when it got patchy. Some have been re-gilded, to confuse matters further.The only two metal combo I have seen has been spelter upper works, almost always figural, and brass looking bases.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Bronze is not copper and nickel. This is what cupro-nickel coins and silver looking objects are made of. </p><p>The mixture for bronze dates back to the Bronze Age when it was found that adding some tin to copper made a new and harder metal that took a better cutting edge and ruled the world till some bugger came up with the iron sword, and shortly afterward the steel weapon. </p><p>Bronzes can be made with many formulations of alloy metals for specific results, bell metal, and bearing bronze are examples. There are even aluminium bronzes so I suppose a nickel copper alloy could be called a bronze.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It is possible for an expert to spot fire gilded bronze items, often referred to as ormoulu, on sight, the amalgam gilding left a characteristic surface look, somewhat matt in appearance. It is also possible to spot gilt spelter because the underlying metal can oxidise and cause tiny blisters to form on the surface.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is not usually possible to tell much from pictures unless the style of the clock indicates a period when only bronze was used.</p><p><br /></p><p>If the vendor of the clock is unwilling to establish positively if it is bronze he probably knows it is not. Either pass by or only pay a spelter price.</p><p><br /></p><p>During the 1950s, ungilded brass cases were made in Spain in the 19th C style and fitted with period movements from unfashionable marble clocks. This was done to quite a large extent. </p><p><br /></p><p>Modern &#039;brass&#039; reproduction clocks might well be made of snips and snails and puppydog&#039;s tails, for all I know.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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