Striking Clock - Types of Striking Clocks

Types of Striking Clocks

Specialized types of striking clocks:

• Chiming clock - Strikes on the hours and chimes on the quarter hours, often playing fragments of a tune such as Westminster Quarters.
• Repeater - a striking clock which can repeat the strikes at the push of a lever, for telling the time in the dark.
• Musical clock - plays tunes on a music box in addition to counting the time
• Automaton clock - with mechanically animated figures that periodically perform various displays, usually as a part of the clock striking the hours.
  • Cuckoo clock - a specific type of automaton clock which originated in Germany, which displays an animated bird and plays imitation birdcalls in addition to striking on a bell or gong.
• Ship's bell clock - strikes the ship's bells of a nautical watch instead of the hours.

Some quartz clocks also contain speakers and sound chips that electronically imitate the sounds of a chiming or striking clock. Other quartz striking clocks use electrical power to strike bells or gongs.