The Hermle Clock Company
The Hermle clockmaking company is based in the Black Forest region of Germany and has been making clocks and movements for almost a hundred years. They claim to be the world's leading producer of wall and mantel clocks.
History
The Franz Hermle Clock Company was founded back in 1922 by - of course - Franz Hermle. It was based in Gosheim/Wuerttemberg in Germany. Franz was succeeded by his sons and today the company is a third generation family concern.In 1999 Hermle purchased Urgos, a well established supplier of mechanical clock movements. Hermle today manufactures and sells Urgos branded and stamped movements.
Today Hermle employs over 500 people worldwide.
USA
The Hermle company entered the US market in 1977 with the formation of Hermle Black Forest Clocks. From 2002 the company began selling US assembled Hermle brand clocks via the retail trade.In 2011 Hermle Black Forest Clocks company was renamed Hermle North America. The North American company acts as a "one stop shop" in the US for all genuine Hermle products including Urgos movements.
Designs
Mantle clocks remain Hermle's speciality however you can buy a wide range of other products including cuckoo, wall and novelty designs.Classic styles include Amelia, Clearbrook and Sweet Briar. For something a little different you can also buy modern designs such as Chigwell cube or the Turin skeleton. Perhaps the most unusual of all the Hermle designs is the Tellurium.
Tellurium
The Hermle Tellurirm combines the ancient idea of an orrery with modern styling and technology. In the Tellurium, the clock face is surmounted by a mechanism that shows the relative posiitons of the Earth, Moon and Sun along with Moon phases. Also indicated are the twelve astrological zodiac signs.There have been three designs of mechanical Hermle Tellurium, known succinctly as I, I and III. There is also a slightly smaller quartz driven model known as the Astrolabium.
Movements
Even if you don't buy a Hermle branded clock you might still be relying on their technology. Hermle also make mechanical movements for other clock manufactures including Seth Thomas, Sligh and Ridgeway. They have also made movements for Howard Miller.The movement is a key part of a clock and a high quality movement is essential for accurate and reliable timekeeping. The Hermle M 1050-020 is one of the most widely used mechanical movements in the world.
This site is not associated with or endorsed by Hermle