Baystate Clock Service

I have mixed feelings about Bay State Clock. The owners are friendly and do good work, but they focus on really «old» clocks in terms of careful repair and refurbishment. If you bring them a clock that was made in the 1890’s or 1920’s and ask to have the works cleaned, they’ll tell you that it «isn’t worth it» and offer to replace the old works with new works. This basically lessens (often drastically) the value of the clock. Old and vintage mechanical clocks will BE «really old clocks» some day. To remove and replace their works is wrong. I once brought Bay State a grandfather clock from circa 1920, and they likewise removed the original works (by a well known maker) and replaced them, because cleaning them was a bother. This clock (worth at least $ 1,000 with the original works) is now worth $ 200 — $ 300. By all means, go to Bay State Clock, but remember that their focus — in terms of thorough attention — is on old and valuable clocks. They’ll disassemble and clean works from an 18^th century clock (or clocks owned by Harvard University, which they do or did service), but may offer to «alter» your grandmother’s Ingram mantle clock, in order to get it in and out of their shop quickly.