Putney Clock Repair Shop: The Clock Clinic, Wed to Sat

The Clock Clinic, at 85 Lower Richmond Road in Putney, is a clock repair shop that has been taking apart other people's longcase, bracket and carriage clocks since the early 1970s, and it still works the counter on a short week: Wednesday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 1pm. The one rule that matters before you carry a heavy clock down the road is that visits are by appointment, booked through the online calendar on clockclinic.co.uk, so pick your slot first and lift the clock second.

Companies House records the business as incorporated in October 1972, and the shop's own strapline reads "Delivering 50 Years of quality time". It describes itself as family run and keeps a large stock of antique and vintage clocks and watches from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, so the front room doubles as a showroom. The Financial Times once listed it among "the world's best repair shops", a line the team still quotes on the homepage, and you will see why once you notice how many ticking cases fill the walls.

The director is Alastair Chandler, who first worked here from 1994 to 2007 as a clock restorer and front-of-house manager before leaving for Christie's King Street as an international clock specialist. He later consulted on clocks and watches in Shanghai, ran his own business, Chandler Clocks, and came back to lead the firm. He is an Honorary Fellow of the British Horological Institute, a liveryman of the Clockmakers' Company, and a regular specialist on BBC's Antiques Roadshow, where he has appeared since 2011.

The repairs page is specific about scope: longcase or grandfather clocks, English bracket and skeleton clocks, fine French mantel clocks and carriage clocks are the core, and modern or mid-20th-century clocks are accepted too. If you have a vintage electric clock that has sat silent for years, the workshop can convert it to a quartz movement rather than leave it as an ornament. Complete overhauls, single repairs and small adjustments are all on the list, and missing wheels can be cut and fitted to the original pattern.

An overhaul here follows the classic sequence: the movement comes out of the case, every part is taken down, the faults specific to that clock are diagnosed and fixed, the clockwork is cleaned, and the whole thing is rebuilt, checked and tested. Overhauls are covered by the shop's guarantee. On request, the same visit can include cosmetic work on the case, which is where the dial and cabinet side of the business comes in.

Dial work is a specialism in its own right. Brass dials can be cleaned, re-silvered and waxed. Painted dials, including moon-phase and automata dials, are restored by hand. Fine enamel dials and painted porcelain panels are conserved. And broken hands can be repaired or remade to their original period design. For an 18th-century longcase with a faded silvered chapter ring, this is the difference between a clock that runs and a clock that looks right in the hall again.

Casework covers cleaning or re-gilding ormolu, conserving fine cabinets, replacing missing mounts, mouldings and veneers, and conserving japanning and lacquer work. The team also has a furniture restorer, so a bracket clock on a damaged wall bracket can go in as one job. Reviews mention clocks that other repairers had given up on, and one customer wrote that a chiming wall clock was fixed while they waited, which is not something to expect but shows the bench is staffed during opening hours.

There is no published price list for clock work, so the first appointment is effectively a diagnosis. Bring the clock, its key, the pendulum and any weights, wrapped separately. A longcase clock's weights and pendulum must come off before it travels. For clocks too large to carry, the shop offers a collection and delivery service, and a home or onsite consultation that covers setting up, an in-house health check and advice on care.

One long-time customer review sums up the trade-off fairly: the work is "not inexpensive", but you are paying for restorers who care about the object and its history. If you only need a cheap battery movement swap in a modern wall clock, a high-street key cutter will be quicker. Save The Clock Clinic for the mechanical clock that came from a grandparent, the carriage clock that stopped striking, or the longcase that needs a proper strip-down.

The firm launched an Apprentice Scheme in May 2018 and mentors horology undergraduates, a deliberate response to how few young people now enter the trade. Its stated mission is to support existing horologists and keep traditional clock and watch making skills alive. Reviews name Alastair and Hilary at the counter, and the people who greet you are usually the ones who can explain what is wrong with the escapement.

The blog is active, with posts in August and September 2026 on dating a carriage clock, setting an antique clock properly and whether a repair is worth it. The short answer the shop gives to that last question is yes for antiques, quality mechanical movements and family heirlooms, because a skilled repair keeps the original parts in use. Reading the setting guide before you go will also save the most common damage the bench sees: hands forced backwards on a striking clock.

Lower Richmond Road runs west from the bottom of Putney High Street, so the shop sits a short walk from Putney Bridge and the river. After a drop-off, cross back towards St Mary's Church at the foot of the bridge, the church where the Putney Debates were held in 1647, then follow the Embankment upstream past the line of rowing clubs and their slipways.

If you are coming by Tube, Putney Bridge station on the District line is on the north bank, so the walk takes you across the Thames before you reach the shop. Putney rail station, with trains from Waterloo, is up the hill on Upper Richmond Road. Carrying a bracket clock across the bridge is manageable. For anything heavier, use the collection service and walk down unburdened.

The Clock Clinic, 85 Lower Richmond Road, Putney, London SW15 1EU. Email: time@clockclinic.co.uk. Core opening hours: Wednesday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 1pm. Visits are by appointment only, booked through the online calendar on clockclinic.co.uk.

Services: overhauls, repairs and adjustments to longcase, bracket, skeleton, French mantel, carriage, wall and mid-century clocks. Electric-to-quartz conversions. Dial and case restoration. Collection, delivery and home visits for large clocks. The shop also services watches and sells antique clocks. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a lunch spot on the Putney riverside after your appointment.