| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Width of "BABY BEN" on Made by Westclox dial | The very earliest "Made by Westclox" dials have the name "BABY BEN" the same width as "Westclox" below the center. Most have "BABY BEN" wider than "Westclox". |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Trip Staff Nut | Long or short nut on trip staff. Early examples have a long nut, and a correspondingly shorter alarm set knob. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 1 | Repeat Lever | The first Big Ben movement patent shows 2 types of repeat lever. Inventor George Kern changed the repeat lever several times, until the familiar type evolved. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Paint color | Paint color of the style 5 Baby Ben Gun Metal clock.
Early (pre-war): the metallic coat is over the black base coat. Smoother surface.
Late ((post-war): Metallic paint all the way through. Slightly more speckled surface.
Those with back type 4 are unusual - the bezels have the early type paint, and the backs are noticeably more black - very slightly metallic. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Movement Type | No hole or hole for alarm pull switch |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Movement Material | Most movements are nickel plated, some during WWII are not. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 6 | Movement Material | Nickel plated or brass plates with blue steel bridges. |
| Westclox | Model 66 Movement | Movement Material | Early 66 movement plates are brass, they are steel during WWII, later ones are aluminum |
| Westclox | Model 66 Movement | Movement Date Location | Model 66 movement date location varies by date made and where made (USA, Canada, Scotland). |
| Westclox | Model 66 Movement | Minute Wheel Fastening | Early model 66 movements have no minute wheel fastening, or a c-clip. Later, it was fixed in place by a stud. |
| Westclox | All | Maker's Name on Dial | In late 1936 or early 1937, the lettering at the bottom of the dial changed from "MADE BY WESTERN CLOCK CO. LA SALLE, ILL. U.S.A" to "MADE BY WESTCLOX, LA SALLE, ILL., U.S.A." |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Lettering at Bottom of Dial | The "A" in "MADE IN U.S.A." has either a dot or a dash after it. Early ones have a dot. This applies only to non-luminous dials with "MADE BY WESTERN CLOCK CO., . . . " at the bottom of the dial. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 7 | Lens Shape | Pointed lens until 1960, then rounded. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 1a | Leg Type | The first Big Ben Style 1a had legs with two hexagon portions. I call these double hexagon legs. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Inner Shell Type | Variations in the spring on the alarm sliders, no hole or hole at lower right. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 4 | Hand Type | On luminous style 4 Baby Ben, the earliest examples have simplified skeleton hands, most examples have solid hands. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 7 | Hand Type | There are two early types, both used only in 1956:
1) Minute hand has no cap in the center, the sides of the hands are straight (the whole hand tapers from narrow to wide).
2) Second type: Minute hand has decorative cap in the center, the sides of the hands are straight (the whole hand tapers from narrow to wide). The short end of the hand is the widest part of the hand.
The standard type (used starting sometime in 1956 to the end of Style 7 production): Minute hand has cap in center, the hand tapers from narrow to widest at the center, then tapers narrower again. The short end of the hand is narrower than the center. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 1 | Hairspring Material | First a blued steel hairspring was used, then a copper color hairspring. The transition was ca. 1920 to 1922. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 7 | Hairspring Fastening to Stud | Early examples are pinned, most are glued. |
| Westclox | Model 66 Movement | Gear Material | Most 66 movements have brass gears. Waralarms have steel gears. Late 1950s examples have steel gears. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 7 | Dial Numerals | Radial numerals at the beginning, changed to upright numerals in 1958. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 8 | Dial Material - Paper or Painted | The first Big Ben and Baby Ben style 8 clocks have a paper dial on a metal plate. Starting in 1970, the dial is painted directly onto the metal plate. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 1 | Dial | Baby Ben style 1 dials were first celluloid covered, then plain paper. At first, the dials just say "baby Ben" with the first "b" lower case, and the back of the "4" is curved. Later, the back of the "4" was made straight, followed by the first "B" in "Baby" being upper case. The trademark "Westclox" was added to the dial in late 1917. Lettering at the bottom of the dial started in 1915. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Dial | Ivory Style 5 Baby Ben luminous dials were brown-banded at first, and were solid brown starting ca. mid-1948. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 6 | Dial | The font of the name "Westclox" |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a | Dial | This series of dials covers Big Ben Styles 1 and 1a. The earliest form of the Style 1 dial has unusual numerals, including a backward-curving leg on the "7". The Big Ben was improved from Style 1 to Style 1a during the period that the dials were made with "Westclox" in italic text. Luminous dials were first made in the Big Ben Style 1a era. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 2 | "De Luxe" or not | The first Big Ben and Baby Ben Style 2 say "De Luxe" on the dial. During 1930, "De Luxe" was removed. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 1 | Center Pinion Construction | At first, cast lead with steel wires; later, solid steel. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 7 Black | Bezel Color | Black Big Ben style 7 has a nickel bezel at first, changed to brass ca. 1960. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 8 | Base Material (Ben Style 8) | The first style 8 Big Ben and Baby Ben have a metal base. Around late 1970 or 1971 it was changed to a plastic base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 3 | Base Cavity Number | Baby Ben Style 3 bases have cavity number "A.1" or "A.2". |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Base Cavity Number | Lettering "1", "2", or "3" has been observed on the bottom of the bases on the left or right side. Max Schlenker said these are "cavity numbers" to identify the cavity used to cast the base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Base Cavity Number | Lettering "1 A" or "2 A" have been observed on the bottom of the bases. Max Schlenker said these are "cavity numbers" to identify the cavity used to cast the base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 6 | Base Cavity Number | Lettering "1 A", "2 A" "5 A" or "6 A", or a number 1 through 7 have been observed on the bottom of the bases. Max Schlenker said these are "cavity numbers" to identify the cavity used to cast the base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Base Bottom Color | Most Style 4 Baby Ben bases are painted gold on the bottom. Starting in 1937, some are painted the same as the case. Gold bottom bases have a brass nut in the center. Ivory and Gun Metal bottom bases have a nickel nut in the center. Some of the Ivory and Gun Metal bottom bases have a plated outside edge (like the gold bottom bases), others are un-plated. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 3 | Base | The style 3 Baby Ben has two types of base lettering on the bottom. Most of the bases are painted gold on the bottom, I've seen one painted black, on a case without a movement. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Base | Very early style 4 Baby Bens say "61L" on the base, most say "61N". |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Base | Two base types were used, with various cavity numbers and auxiliary lettering. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 6 | Base | The lettering, and some are cut-out and some are solid. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 7 | Base | Some have a single digit number, some say 75-102. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 4 | Back Material | Most Ivory Style 4 Baby Bens have a steel back which is copper plated then brass plated. A few late ones have a back which is nickel plated then lacquered pale gold. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Back Material | Most Baby Ben style 5 clocks have a steel back. A few have brass or aluminum back. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 1 | Back | Baby Ben style 1 backs have various patent dates or patent numbers. Early examples have a "Made By" line behind the rear leg. Some examples ca. 1913 have a $2.50 price seal. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 3 | Back | The first ones don't have a Loud-Soft control on the back. The Loud-Soft control was added in December 1932 |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Back | Various U.S. and international patent numbers were stamped on the backs. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 6 | Back | Early backs have PAT. PDG, later ones don't. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 1 | Back | Big Ben Style 1 clocks used different patent dates and arrangements on the back. Also, the $2.50 price seal, and various Westclox logos were used. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 1a | Back | Style 1a Big Ben clocks have a series of patent sequences on the back. The patents were in two different locations. Later backs have patent numbers instead of dates. |
| Westclox | Waralarm - Fiber Case | Back | Early examples have a price label, later ones have the price imprinted in the back. |
| Westclox | Model 66 Movement | Alarm Set Knob Fastening | Early 66 movements have screw on knobs, later they are staked. |
