An extremely rare French art deco ships wheel clock by the Leon Hatot (ATO) company.

I bought this clock from the Great Grandson of the man who bought it new in the 1920/30s. His Grandfather got it from a watchmaker who was working in the ATO Factory. According to what the seller remembers – a rich American did the general design asking for a shipwheel clock and Leon Hatot did the exact dimensioning of the cast bronze case. The wood base was done the way the American wanted it probably in France. It seems the order was for 10 clocks and the American took 8 and left Leon Hatot with 2 of them and this is this is one of the clocks left in France. The other 8 clocks were I believe shipped to America. So this is a very rare clock and 1 of ten made.

Also unusual is the fact that the arms control is from the back while all ATO clocks arms are adjusted from the front by direct action on the arms themselves. As a consequence of this particular design Leon Hatot manufactured some more identical movements controlled from the back but I don’t know exactly on what models they’re installed.

It measures 10 inches(25.5cm) long, 7.5 inches (19cm) high, 2.75 inches (7cm) deep.

This clock has been converted to run on a new C battery although it is not currently working. I cannot guarantee if it could be converted back to original working condition as the old batteries are no longer available.

Leon Hatot was the first person to design the battery operated clock in the 1920s.

The condition is extremely good.