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Weems
& Plath Martinique Brass Quartz Ship's Bell Clock Review
Produced by: Weems & Plath
Available at:
BellClocks.com
Movement: Quartz
MSRP: $419.99
Our overall rating:
7.25/10
- Fit - Finish
- Hand alignment: 8/10
- Bang for the buck: 7/10 (explained below)
Weems and Plath is one of the best
known, and most popular makes of nautical clocks and instruments on the
market today, and for many years. This review is on one of the most
popular Weems & Plath models, the Martinique Quartz Ships Bell Clock.
Our
Martinique Quartz Ships Bell Clock came packaged in a heavy cardboard
box, with inner styro packing. The packaging was heavy, and of good
quality - sufficient to protect the piece from damage during shipment.
Included was the clock, mounting screws, battery, and instructions. The
instructions are complete,
easy to follow,
and should answer any question regarding the clock or set up. In
addition to the instructions, was a small bi-fold sheet containing a
brief history of Weems & Plath - a nice addition for the customer.
One of the
first things that caught our attention, was the weight of the clock
itself, which was impressive - especially when keeping in mind that
this is a quartz movement. Case finish was excellent, with a perfect
finish - no marring, scratches, etc. Fit of the hinged front bezel, and
operation of the porthole fastener was also good, and operated smoothly.
The 4"
clock face is white, and features a standard 3 hand arrangement, with
12 hour Arabic numerals, and a second register along the outside edge
of the dial, in black - easy to read from across the room. Sound holes
for the bell are located on the bottom of the clock barrel, as with
most strikers.
Setting of
the clock was accomplished quickly, by opening the bezel, and following
the simple instructions included in the package. Upon setting of the
clock, we noticed that the second hand was slightly out of alignment
with the second register on the face - not a problem, and very common
with many clocks
featuring a
second hand. Our only complaint is in the labeling on the rear side of
the movement. We felt the setting controls should be more clearly
labeled, as they were a bit hard to see.
The
Martinique Ships Bell Clock follows a standard 8 bell pattern. As our
clock ticked away toward the top of the hour, we waited for the bells
at the top of the hour...nothing. We followed all troubleshooting
contained in the instructions, eventually contacting Weems & Plath
customer service - where we confirmed that we had a defective unit.
While we
were disappointed, this allowed us to test Weems & Plath customer
service - which we are happy to report was outstanding. They
immediately issued a call tag for UPS to pick up, which occurred the
following morning. Within about
8 days, they
received our return, verified it's defect, and shipped us another new
clock, at no cost to us.
Following
the instructions, we set our replacement, and waited for the top of the
hour (12:00 PM) 8 bells - nothing - then at about 12:01, 8 bells. We
again followed the instructions, contacting customer service again. The
instructions stated that the strike might take 24 hours to align with
the clock, so we waited.
Over the
following 3 days, the timing of the bell function was erratic, with
bells sounding in a 1.5 minute range before or after the top or bottom
of the hour. The tone and volume levels were excellent, but the timing
was just not right. Customer service was happy to oblige another
return, but we declined.
The
movement used by Weems & Plath on all Atlantis, Martinique, and
Anniversary clocks, is a Hermle. To be fair, we have sold a good number
of these clocks, mechanical and quartz, without a single return as
defective. It is possible that we were simply unlucky - and we can't
say enough about the outstanding
treatment
received by Weems & Plath's customer service department.
Timekeeping
accuracy was also excellent. We tested the Martinique for 10 days
against our standard - the Oregon Scientific RM-103A (radio controlled
clock synchronized with the NIST atomic clock signal from WWVB @60Hz).
During the
test period, the
Martinique lost 3 seconds.
BOTTOM LINE: Overall, the Martinique
Ships Bell Clock was impressive. While we were disappointed with the
striker - fit, finish, and "wow" factor is high. The sound of the bell
is possibly the best of any quartz bell we've heard, in terms of both
tone quality, and volume level - it's obvious that Weems & Plath
has done some research in selecting the mechanism.
To explain
our "bang for the buck" rating: This is the average of scores in the 4
areas we rate
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