Magneta Slave Clock | Mid-Century British GPO Clock, Satin Black, Quartz Movement
Magneta Slave Clock | Mid-Century British GPO Clock, Satin Black, Quartz Movement
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An original Magneta clock, once a slave clock in a post office, telephone exchange, or factory setting, finished in satin black with a silver-grey dial and converted to a modern quartz movement.
At a glance
| Manufacturer | Magneta |
| Produced | Circa 1940s–50s |
| Original function | Slave clock |
| Finish | Satin black, sprayed |
| Dial | Silver / grey |
| Glass | Convex glass cover |
| Movement | Converted to modern quartz |
| Hands | Original hands, adapted for the quartz conversion |
| Diameter | 25 cm (9.8") |
| Height | 7 cm (2.8") |
| Availability | One of one, once sold this exact piece will not return |
| Import duty | Payable by the buyer in their own country |
The story
Magneta was one of only four manufacturers approved to build clocks to the British General Post Office's specification, alongside Gent & Co. of Leicester, Synchronome of Alperton, and Gillett & Johnson, all using the same Hipp Toggle impulse system to keep every clock on a shared circuit in perfect agreement. The company traces back to 1917, when Joseph Molden took over the original Magneta business and expanded it by acquiring the Silent Electric Clock Company in the early 1920s. In 1939, Magneta itself was bought by the British Vacuum Cleaning and Engineering Company, better known for its Goblin-brand vacuum cleaners, and continued operating from the Goblin Works in Leatherhead, Surrey, supplying master clocks, slave clocks, and time recording systems to post offices, telephone exchanges, municipal buildings, and factories throughout the mid-twentieth century.
Like every clock in a Magneta network, this one never kept its own time. A central master clock sent a pulse down a shared wire, and every slave clock connected to it, this one included, advanced its hands one step with each pulse received, keeping dozens of clocks across a building in exact agreement without any of them needing their own timekeeping mechanism. Because that network no longer exists, this particular clock has been converted to a modern quartz movement, with its original hands adapted to work with the new mechanism, so it now keeps its own time independently, no master clock or pulse generator required.
Finished in a clean satin black with its original silver-grey dial and a convex glass cover, it carries the honest presence of a genuine piece of British institutional history, without needing any special setup to hang and use straight away.
Suited to collectors of British postal and industrial history, interior designers looking for a self-contained, ready-to-hang statement clock, and anyone who wants a real piece of GPO-era engineering doing exactly what a modern clock should.