This tower clock has two distinct gear trains—one for keeping time and the other for striking the hours. The regulating pendulum oscillates with a two-second period and is inserted onto a variant of the anchor escapement known as “pin-wheel escapement.”
The maker of this clock, Francesco Comelli (1744–1816), had a famous workshop in Bologna. He also built machine tools, as well as surgical tools and musical instruments. In 1780 he was assigned the task of maintaining the city municipal clock.
This instrument comes from the Giancarlo Del Vecchio Collection.