Clock for fireplaces (as a special kind) appeared in France in the middle of the XVIII century. In the middle of the XIX, so-called fireplace sets began to be created here, in addition to the actual clock, paired ornaments in the form of candelabra or small sculptures were included. The cataclysms of the 20th century were temporarily suspended by a triumphal march of mantel clocks, but lately the fashion for them is gaining momentum again, and they stand, if not in every first, then every second modern interior.

Mantel clocks are classified as console. True, unlike the console, they were made without a handle, for which they can be lifted. As a rule, mantel clocks are not very big and rather flat.

The case of such watches was loved and loved to be made of precious woods - walnut, mahogany. Sometimes it could even be porcelain. Often the watch was covered with varnishes and trimmed with gilded bronze. Marble was often used as a material for a pedestal. Most watches were supplied with a dial covered with white enamel. These watches looked good on the mantelpiece in the library, surrounded by books and photographs. In the XIX century with the development of salon culture, mantel clocks began to be placed in the living room or reception room, where once or twice a week, on certain days, the chosen society gathered. Now, when there is no strict hierarchy of rooms and their functions are brought closer together, almost any room in the house can be decorated with antique fireplace or its imitation. The XIX century was a turning point in the fireplace watchmaking. Thanks to the achievements of engineering and bronze casting, the watch case was decorated with large-scale sculptural compositions, and the mantel clock turned into a real masterpiece.

During the nineteenth century, the watch industry changed each other’s style Regentsstyle Louis XVI, Empireat the end of the century eclecticism began to prevail. However, despite all the stylistic peripetia, for a long time, they gave preference to classicism. In the mantel clock, the tendency towards the ancient canons was expressed primarily in the motifs of the sculptural compositions, which were the watch case. They usually featured the ancient gods or heroes. Thus, the most frequently encountered characters of chimney watch histories were Apollo, Cupid, Psyche, Hector, Andromache, and others. Periodically here and there, mischievous putti appeared. A simpler, but no less classic version of the decoration - column porticos. Such watches stood in different-style interiors of the middle and the end of the XIX century. Nowadays, they will be appropriate in the interior with elements of the classics, but, interestingly, they can give an unexpected sound, even high-current or minimalism.