A Comtoise clock in your browser
This page opens Westminster Chime with the French Comtoise already selected. Press start and leave the tab open: the clock ticks once a second, like the tall pendulum clocks of eastern France, and its bell rings the Westminster chime every quarter hour before striking the hours.
The bell and the tick are recordings of a real nineteenth-century pendulum clock: one blow of its bell, re-pitched to play the four notes of the melody, and its tick, replayed with tiny variations.
What you hear
The Comtoise beat is slow and woody: one tick per second, with the slightly uneven rhythm of a long pendulum swinging inside a wooden case. The bell is a single blow of a real clock bell, bright and metallic, with a ring that fades slowly into the room.
Of the Westminster clocks on this site it has the most rustic voice, warmer than the steel rods of the grandfather clock and far lighter than the great bells of Big Ben.
The real Comtoise clock
Comtoise clocks come from Franche-Comté, in the Jura mountains of eastern France, where workshops around Morez and Morbier made them from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. They were the country clock of France, and the later ones are known for their long pendulums of embossed brass.
A real Comtoise does not play the Westminster chime. It strikes the hours on its bell, then strikes them again a little later, so that anyone who missed the count gets a second chance. What you hear here is the Westminster melody played on a bell in the Comtoise spirit, not a reproduction of an antique movement.
When to choose it
Pick the Comtoise if you want a calm, steady presence rather than a busy one. One tick per second is slow enough to fade into the background while you work or read, and the bell is clear enough to tell you the time from the next room. For a faster, lighter beat, the mantel clock ticks two and a half times as often.
Questions
Does a real Comtoise clock play the Westminster chime?
No. A traditional Comtoise strikes the hours on a single bell and repeats the strike a little later. This page plays the Westminster chime with a bell inspired by the Comtoise sound.
How fast does the Comtoise tick?
Once per second: a slow, slightly uneven beat that imitates a long pendulum.
Is this a recording of an antique Comtoise?
No. There is no freely licensed recording of a Comtoise, so the bell and the tick come from another nineteenth-century pendulum clock.