I can't really answer your questions very well, except that the standard equipment for tournaments in the US is a digital clock with delay. You can use analog clocks but you will lose out on some time in your games (standard delay is 5 seconds in non-blitz time controls).
I still like analog and the first clock I bought when I got back into tournaments was one. I recently bought a digital due to the prevelance of delay and increment and especially since the rules have that as the standard.
The Jerger is a beautiful, well-constructed clock. One of the best clocks in chess history without a doubt.
I'm not fond of BHBs in general, but they seem to last forever.
Just wind these clocks up once in awhile, and you should be fine. Wind them until you no longer can wind, that's how you know they are wound up to their max.
By the way, in tournaments I never mind playing on a beautiful clock like a Jerger (or the USCF Master Quartz, which IMHO is a very nice clock...that also has a 1 second delay built in).
Wow, did not know all these analog clock tips! Thanks RetGuvvie98!
Thanks for the tips RetGuvvie. My Garde was sprung in the box it was delivered in. I bought it about two months ago but haven't needed it so far. Tick tock. I hope it's not too late.
Thank you all, especially Retguvvie, for your invaluable advice and assitance.
I still have the first BHB I bought back in the 70s. It has the extended flag for the last 5 minute detail. Worked fine until I let a "friend" borrow it for blitz at our local club. Later that evening when I went to get my clock back; I saw that he was turning the hand backward to start the next game. I don't know how many games he had played but it was enough to cause the hour hand to be out of sync with the other clock. Thereafter, when I used it at OTB tournaments some of my opponents would notice that the hour hand would be almost 30 minutes off. Very embarassing having to explain. So, I have gone digital with Chronos.
So, don't you (or anyone else) turn the hands backward, ever! Especially that Jerger. That's a keeper!
Eek! I think I may have done this to some of my clocks. Do you mean that after a couple of hours the accuracy goes all over the place, or that after a couple of hours it just stops? How *do* you fix it if the mainspring is set?
Much thanks!
Thanks RetGuvvie. I know my way around the inside of a watch, and I still wouldn't try that. I'll do the hourly tests and try for the best, I guess.
Interesting stuff
Thanks for all the info. I just pulled out all our school chess club clocks and am trying to tune them up. Will run them all down and make speed adjustments. Another question though. Some of them seem very hard to wind -- I thought that meant they were close to fully wound, but when I opened them I often found the opposite. Do they need oil, WD40, or something like ACF-50 anticorrosive spray? If oil, any specific recommendation?
Hello, I just purchased two analog chess clocks on Ebay.
The first is a dark wood BHB blitz chess clock with a maximum face time of 20 minutes (hence it's a blitz clock).
The second clock is a classic Jerger Olympia clock for tournament play.
My questions are:
Did I make the right choices in choosing the clocks that I did? When it came to brand and models?
2a. I want to keep as good care as I can of these beautiful clocks. How should I care for them? Should I take them to a clock mechanic immediately after recieving them? 2b. How many turns does it usually take to fully wind the clocks? I'm afraid I'm going to over-wind or underwind-them. Anything else I should know? I'm new to analog chess clocks.