Small Brass Bells

One of all the different types of exterior clocks are the small brass bells. This is not a clock in the usual meaning (with a clockwork, two hands and numbers) but can still send messages about what time it is through its ringings. Bells has been the most common type of exterior clock for very long but today the bells are replaced by other sorts of exterior clocks about which you can read in other articles on this site. The bells were mostly cast in brass. Today small brass bells are seen not only as exterior clocks but also for many other purposes. They can be out up as decoration on houses and animals (mostly cats, rabbits or small dogs) can have them in their necklace and so on. When agriculture and farms were more common, all of the cows wore small brass bells in their necklaces. Small brass bells are especially common at Christmas time or other traditional events like breaking-up days at school, not functioning as an exterior clock but more symbolically. The ringing of the ship bell tells the men on the deck that it's time for meal. In bigger households a small hand brass bell can also call the people to dinner.

Some people have a small brass bell as a doorbell (far from being an exterior clock) and small bells are also used in jewelry and for oriental things like belly dance. In some shops, there's a small brass bell the customers can use to get the managers attention. At some places in the world, there are not small brass bells or exterior clocks but extremely big bells in churches. These are often very old and when one sees them, one wonders how they ever got in place since no advanced technique was available at that time. It's really amazing! But you don't want to stand too close to these huge church bells when they start ringing... The sound is so high because long ago when the exterior clock at the church might have been the only thing people had to rely on in the matter of what time it was, the ringings had to reach out even to the most distant house. The ringings of the bell also called people to the masses. One position in the church was totally devoted to the bell, the one the bell man who swung the rope was holding. Nowadays maybe this correspond to the men who sets the exterior clocks...

Exterior clocks like small brass bells can be of different qualities. The can be solid and heavy or made of a lighter alloy with a coating of another metal. Depending on what the bells are made of, their tone and durability varies. Since the small brass bells aren't actual exterior clocks, their main purpose doesn't have to be to be useful. They can just as well simply be decorative. If you want a bell for decoration you can buy an architectural bell shell instead of an exterior clock. These are more inexpensive than the cast ones because they are made of hand laid fiberglass with a metal cover. Except from the usual exterior clocks, there are also digital bells, or carillons as they're also called. These come with the opportunity to choose between a wide range of sounds, for example bell peals, hour-strike, angelus, funeral tolls, melodies and Westminster Chimes.

If you for different reasons like the construction or condition of the building, can't have a mounted swinging bell or exterior clock, you can choose a stationary mounted bell. These doesn't have the hardware required for the bell to be able to swing but nonetheless the bell can make sound thanks to electromagnetic bell clappers and hammers.

Exterior Clocks

Outside clocks or exterior clocks may be small details in a cityscape but they are nonetheless important. They obviously fill a useful purpose; they show the inhabitants or visitors in the city what time it is. They are also often very decorative, especially the old ones. Exterior clocks can be seen on towers, they can be put flat on walls or at a right angle so that they hang from a small pole which is put on the wall. They can also, even though it's less usual, stand alone (not put on an exterior wall) with the dial and clockwork on the top of a sort of pillar or column. They are common near bus and train stations and on official state buildings like churches, city halls and libraries. The exterior clocks doesn't have to have the form of a classic clock; when they are put outdoor the size increases and the designer's imagination can play a bigger part.

The clock can have the form of a sphere with the hands bent around it; it can have numbers or not, be lighted or have different color effects. This is the reason why such a simple thing as an exterior clock can be so much more than just something that shows the time! As clocks are such common objects, it's not strange that they come in so many variations. You want to make every clock unique! There are some different types of exterior clocks and on this site I'll describe the most common ones but also some more unusual fun examples! When discussing the matter of exterior clocks, some categories worth mentioning among tower clocks are skeleton clocks, silhouette clocks, surface mount clock dials, canister clocks and also semi-flush front lighted clocks. There are also streetscape clocks among which bracket clocks and post clocks are the most usual ones. The foremost difference between these types of exterior clocks is the method by which they are mounted on the wall surface which can be made of different materials like wood, brick, concrete or plastic.

Another object in this context is bells which are the origin of the hourly ringing from churches. The bells are also a signifier of time but calls to the hearing instead of the sight. The ringing from a bell is also a nice element that reminds of times not too long ago when the church was the center of the city which people visited regularly. There are many exterior clocks in the world, I'd say at least one and most likely several more, in every bigger village and city. One of the most famous of the exterior clocks in the world is probably the Big Ben, you can read more in the article ”Famous exterior clocks”. These clocks, just as every other type of clocks, doesn't just keep working and ticking forever. They need regular maintenance and sometimes careful restoration to hold for a long time. And that is everybody's wish because they are often very expensive to create and mount. The clocks in cities are exposed to wear due to the heavy traffic and the exhaust fumes it leaves behind. The weather is also a reason for wear; rain, snow and strong winds don't leave the exterior clock untouched.