Vintage AEG Industrial Wall Clock in Original Hammered Grey | 28 cm 1960s Factory Clock, Quartz on One Battery, Red Second Hand
Vintage AEG Industrial Wall Clock in Original Hammered Grey | 28 cm 1960s Factory Clock, Quartz on One Battery, Red Second Hand
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A vintage AEG factory wall clock from the 1960s, still in its original hammered grey paint. The clean station-style dial, with bold black bars and a red second hand, is covered by glass, and the movement has been converted to quartz, so the clock runs on a single battery. We have multiple of these, sold individually.
At a glance
| Manufacturer | AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft), Germany |
|---|---|
| Type | Factory wall clock |
| Period | 1960s |
| Finish | Original hammered grey paint |
| Dial | Light dial with bold black bar markers, black hands, red second hand, marked AEG |
| Cover | Glass |
| Movement | Converted to quartz, runs on a single battery |
| Diameter | 28 cm (11.0") |
| Thickness | 6 cm (2.4") |
| Stock | Three available, sold individually. Each has its own finish and patina |
| Import duty | Payable by the buyer in their own country |
A note on variation
The three clocks in the photos were all painted in the same period, but each one lived its own working life. The hammered grey paint, the dial and the case differ slightly from clock to clock. If you have a preference, tell us before you order and we will select accordingly. Otherwise we will choose a good, representative clock for you.
The story
AEG, the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft, grew out of Emil Rathenau's Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft, founded in Berlin in 1883 and renamed AEG in 1887. By the early twentieth century it was one of the largest electrical companies in Europe, and in 1907 it hired the architect and designer Peter Behrens as artistic adviser, giving German industry one of its first fully coordinated corporate designs. The plain, legible style that followed, with no ornament that does not do a job, shaped how factories and offices looked for decades.
Clocks like this one belong to that world. They hung in workshops, corridors, offices and canteens, where the time had to be read at a glance from across the room. The bold black bars on the dial, the simple round case and the hammered paint, a hard-wearing finish that hides scuffs, were all chosen for use rather than show. This example dates from the 1960s and follows that tradition, but we do not present it as a Behrens original.
Its charm today is in that combination of plain function and a surface that no one can paint on afterwards. The hammered grey paint is original, with the small marks of age you expect. The movement has been converted to quartz, so it needs no mains connection: one battery keeps it running, and the red second hand moves round the dial.
Suited to collectors of German industrial design and AEG history, interior designers who need a characterful wall clock with an honest finish, and anyone furnishing a loft, studio, workshop, café, kitchen or hallway who wants a factory clock that is easy to live with. Because we have three, they also work well as a set, for instance side by side in a restaurant, hotel or office.