| Westclox | All Westclox | 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 | All Westclox | Westclox logo on dial through ca. 1931 | The name Westclox was first used on dials ca. 1917. At first, the font was italic. Ca. 1923 the font became Roman. Starting in 1927, the x in Westclox had a tail on it. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 1 | Back Type | 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 1 | Center Pinion Construction | At first, cast lead with steel wires; later, solid steel. |
| 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 1 | Hairspring Material | First a blued steel hairspring was used, then a copper color hairspring. The transition was ca. 1920 to 1922. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Back Type | Patent dates or patent numbers are on the backs. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Base | Style 2 Baby Ben bases have differences in lettering on the bottom. At least two companies made the bases. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Base Bottom Color | Some are black on the bottom and some are gold. The first nickel clocks are black on the bottom. As far as I know, all painted finish clocks have gold bottom bases. Later nickel clocks have gold bottom bases. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Base Cavity Number | The Doehler (61-A) bases have either "1" or "2" as a cavity number. The other bases have nothing, or a small dot, or a large dot and a small dot. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Base Hole | Some of the Doehler bases have a hole located half way between the mounting screw holes. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Cast Base Metal Condition | The Baby Ben Style 2 was an early use of a die cast base by Westclox. Some of these bases are in bad condition, and some are remarkably good. These conditions are a rough way to track how well the bases aged. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Inner Shell Type | Variations in the spring on the alarm sliders, no hole or hole at lower right. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Movement Type | No hole or hole for alarm pull switch |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | Number of Base Corners Gone | Sometimes one or both front corners are broken off. This is a rough attempt to track how well the style 2 bases aged. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 2 | RD 1927 | The Doehler bases may or may not say RD - 1927. The other bases may or may not say "RD 1927" The bases without RD 1927 are earlier. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 3 | Back Type | 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 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 3 | Base Cavity Number | Baby Ben Style 3 bases have cavity number "A.1" or "A.2". |
| 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 4 | Base | Very early style 4 Baby Bens say "61L" on the base, most say "61N". |
| 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 Gunmetal bottom bases have a nickel nut in the center. Some of the Ivory and Gunmetal bottom bases have a plated outside edge (like the gold bottom bases), others are unplated. |
| 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 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 | 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 | 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". This applies to the plain (non-luminous) dials; MAY apply to the Ivory Brown Band Luminous dial; and PROBABLY doesn't apply to the Black Luminous dial, which started out with different widths as a "Made by Western Clock Co. . . ." dial and continued with different widths as a "Made by Westclox . . ." dial. |
| 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 5 | Back Type | Various U.S. and international patent numbers were stamped on the backs. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Base | Two base types were used, with various cavity numbers and auxiliary lettering. |
| 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 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 5 | Movement Material | Most movements are nickel plated, some during WWII are not. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 5 | Paint color | Paint color of the style 5 Baby Ben Gunmetal 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 6 | Base | The lettering on the bottom varies, and some are cut-out and some are solid. It may be that the type 2 cut out base was followed by the type 2 solid base (as in the Style 6 Big Ben), we'll have to get more data to find out. |
| 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 6 | Dial | The font of the name "Westclox" |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 6 | Movement Material | Nickel plated, or brass plates with blue steel bridges. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 7 | Base | Various lettering was used on the bases over the years. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 7 | Base Cavity Number | A single digit number on the bottom of the base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 7 | Set Knob Material | The vast majority of Baby Ben Style 7 have metal knobs. Very late examples have plastic key and knob. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 8 | Back Patent | The first backs did not have a patent number, after about a year a patent number was added. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 8 | Base | A metal base was used first, followed by a plastic base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 8 | Base Cavity Number | A single digit number on the bottom of the base. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 8 | Number of Set Knobs | Most Style 8 Baby Bens have two set knobs (separate time and alarm setting knobs). Very late examples have a single knob that sets the alarm in the normal (in) position and sets the time when it is pulled out and turned. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 8 | Regulator Location | The first Style 8 Baby Bens have the regulator located behind 7:30 on the dial. After a couple years, Westclox rotated the movement in the case, putting the regulator behind 9:00 on the dial. |
| Westclox | Baby Ben Style 8 | Set Knob Material | Most Baby Ben Style 8 clocks have metal set knobs. Very late ones have plastic knobs and key. |
| Westclox | Ben Bolt | Alarm Dial | The first ones have a metal dial with painted numerals and a blue steel pointer. Later ones have a transparent plastic dial with imprinted numerals, and the pointer is beneath it on a painted metal disc. |
| Westclox | Ben Bolt | UL Logo | Small logo used first (on the back of the case), later a larger logo was used. |
| Westclox | Ben Bolt & Siesta | Feet | The first ones have ball feet, later, flat feet were used. |
| Westclox | Ben Bolt & Siesta | Screw Spacing on Bottom | First, screws on the bottom have wide spacing. Later, the screws are closer together. |
| 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 | Ben Style 4 | Luminous Hand Type | On luminous style 4 Baby Ben, the earliest examples have simplified skeleton hands, most examples have solid hands. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 6 | Back Type | Early backs say PAT. PDG., later ones don’t. It is unknown if a patent was actually applied for or why a patent wasn’t pursued. Perhaps the design of Style 6 was too similar to Style 5 and was not considered worth the expenditure to go after a patent. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 7 | Dial Numerals | Radial numerals at the beginning, changed to upright numerals in 1958. |
| 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 | Ben Style 7 | Lens Shape | Pointed lens until 1960, then rounded. |
| Westclox | Ben Style 8 | Dial Material | 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 | Big Ben Style 1 | Back Type | 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 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 | Big Ben Style 1a | Back Type | 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 | 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 | 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 | Big Ben Style 2 | Back Type | The Big Ben Style 2 had two types of backs. The first has patent dates, and the second has patent numbers. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 2 | Base | Big Ben Style 2 bases were made by several companies, including the Dura Company of Toledo, Ohio; and the Doehler Die Casting Company also of Toledo, Ohio. I've seen a few bases having a logo of a diamond with an ampersand inside, but haven't identified the company that logo belonged to. The most common bases have the letter "A" and other markings; and I don't know if Westclox or another company made them. The variations of the bases recorded here are not as significant as other features I've documented, but I found them interesting enough to record. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 2 | Base Bottom Color | Some are black on the bottom and some are gold. The first nickel clocks are black on the bottom. As far as I know, all painted finish clocks have gold bottom bases. Later nickel clocks have gold bottom bases. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 2 | Base Cavity Number | Doehler bases have been see with cavity number 1 or 2 to the right of the Doehler logo, and with 3 or 4 to its right. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 2 | Cast Base Metal Condition | The Big Ben Style 2 was an early use of a die cast base by Westclox. Some of these bases are in bad condition, and some are remarkably good. These conditions are a rough way to track how well the bases aged. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 2 | Number of Base Corners Gone | Sometimes one or both front corners are broken off. This is a rough attempt to track how well the style 2 bases aged. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 3 | Back Type | Big Ben Style 3 backs had three different groups of patent numbers. The first backs have a slide alarm on/off switch, later ones have a pull switch. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 3 | Base | Various groups of lettering and/or patent information is on the bases. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 3 | Base Cavity Number | Some base types have "A-1" or "A-2", some have "1" or "2", and some have "1 - A" or "2 - A" on the bottom. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 3 | Luminous Hand Type | The Big Ben Style 3 Luminous hands were at first fancy skeleton spade style. Later, they were simplified skeleton style. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4a Loud | Back Material | Most Big Ben Style 4a have a steel back. A few aluminum backs have been seen. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4a Loud | Back Type | The first backs don't say MADE IN U.S.A., later ones do. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4a Loud | Base | There are several variations of lettering on the bottom. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4a Loud | Base Bottom Color | The first Style 4a Big Ben bases are painted gold on the bottom. Starting ca. 1936, they are painted black (gunmetal) on the bottom and outside edge. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4a Loud | Base Cavity Number | Nothing, a slash ("/" or "\"), "1", "2", "1-A" or "2-A" on the bottom of the base. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Alarm Governor | The first examples have a fiber gear driving a fan fly. Later examples have a brass gear driving a centrifugal governor. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Back Type | All Ben Ben Style 4 Chime Alarm backs that I've seen have five patent numbers. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Base | Early bases are not as deep as later bases. Several variations in lettering exist. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Base Bottom Color | Most Style 4 Big Ben bases are painted gold on the bottom. Starting ca. 1937, some are painted the same as the case (on the bottom and the outside edge). |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Base Cavity Number | The lettering "1 - A" or "2 - A" on the bottom of the base. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Dial | The earliest Style 4 Chime Alarm dials don't say "Chime Alarm" at the top. Starting around April 1935 the words "Chime Alarm" were added. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 4 Chime | Time Set Knob to Time Key Spacing | Early Style 4 Chime Alarms have the time key close to the time set knob, and the time key has male threads. Standard ones have wide spacing from the time set knob to the time key, and the time key has female threads. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5 | Base | Two base types were made, with various cavity numbers and auxiliary lettering. (Applies to both Style 5 Chime Alarm and Style 5 Loud alarm.) |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5 | Base Cavity Number | The lettering "A 1" or "A 2" on the bottom of the base. Applies to both Style 5 Chime Alarm and Style 5 Loud Alarm. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5 | Base Pad Color | Last red felt pad seen: 11-46. First brown felt pad seen: 2-47. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5a Loud | Back Type | The first backs have PAT. PDG., most backs have DES.114262 |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5a Loud | Base | Two base types were made, with various cavity numbers and auxiliary lettering. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5a Loud | Base Cavity Number | The lettering "A - 1" or "A - 2" on the bottom of the base. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5 Chime | Back Type | All Ben Ben Style 5 Chime Alarm backs that I've seen have five patent numbers. There MAY be an early back without the design patent number. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5 Chime | Dial | Ivory Style 5 Big Ben Chime alarm luminous dials were brown-banded at first, and were solid brown starting ca. mid-1948. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 5 Loud | Back Type | These backs have a USA, Canadian, Australian and British patent. The two types are so similar that I didn't record the type for many clocks I had. For completeness I am showing both types here. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 | Base | Two types of lettering were used on the bottom, and the second type was first made with a cutout, and later made solid. (Applies to both Style 6 Chime Alarm and Style 6 Loud Alarm.) |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 | Base Cavity Number | The lettering "1 A" or "2 A" on the bottom of the base. Applies to both Style 6 Chime Alarm and Style 6 Loud Alarm. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 Chime | Back Type | The first ones say PAT. PDG. and later ones don't. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 Chime | Dial | The dials have the words "CHIME ALARM" in either small lettering (0.4 mm X 5.3 mm) or large lettering (0.7 mm X 7.9 mm). In addition, the word "Westclox" was lettered in two ways. "Small Westclox" has all the letters of the word "Westclox" in capital letters, all the same height. In the "Large Westclox" type, the "W" is upper case and the other letters are lower case. The small "Chime Alarm" and "Small Westclox" were used on the first dials. Then, the "Large Westclox" came into use. Finally, the large "Chime Alarm" replaced the small version. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 Chime | Movement Material | Nickel plated, or brass plates with blue steel bridges. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 Loud | Back Type | The first ones say PAT. PDG. and later ones don't. |
| Westclox | Big Ben Style 6 Loud | Dial | The dials have the words "LOUD ALARM" in either small lettering (0.4 mm X 5.3 mm) or large lettering (0.7 mm X 7.9 mm). In addition, the word "Westclox" was lettered in two ways. "Small Westclox" has all the letters of the word "Westclox" in capital letters, all the same height. In the "Large Westclox" type, the "W" is upper case and the other letters are lower case. The small "Loud Alarm" and "Small Westclox" were used on the first dials. Then, the "Large Westclox" came into use. Finally, the large "Loud Alarm" replaced the small version. |
