19th Century French Crystal Timepiece with Ormolu Mounts
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- Ormolu - Ormolu was popular with French craftsmen in the 18th and 19th century for ornamental fittings for furniture, clocks and other decorative items. True ormolu is gilt bronze, that is bronze that has been coated with gold using a mercury amalgam. Due to the health risks associated with using mercury, this method of creating ormolu was discontinued in France in the 1830s. A substitute was developed consisting of about 75% copper and 25% zinc, however it was inferior to the bronze version. It was often lacquered to prevent it tarnishing.
- Timepiece - In today's usage, the word "clock" is the name given to any instrument used for measuring time, but the word clock is derived from the Celtic word meaning "bell", and traditionally a clock without a bell or chime was known as a timepiece.
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