This horizontal model sits on a cast iron bed. It holds three wheel trains: the going train, for the movement of the hands and another two striking trains for chiming the hours. The going train consists of the barrel, onto which the ratchet is mounted, and a weight. The gearing consists of the great wheel, followed by two others and finally the escape wheel, to which the pendulum with a flat lens-shaped bob is attached. The other elements of the clock are the strike trains, one for the hours and one for the quarters. Both are made up of barrels and regulated by rack and snail countwheel systems. The speed of striking is controlled by fly fans or governors. The inner control dial, made of silver-plated metal, bears the maker's signature and the date of manufacture: DAVID GLASGOW // CLERKENWELL // 1890. Wooden and glass cabinet. The chime is played on three bells in the minaret of the tower. An inscription on each one reads: CAST BY JOHN WAGNER & SONS LONDON 1890.

In mid-1889, the Banco de España's Works Committee, chaired by its governor, agreed on the need to purchase a clock for the tower of the new building on Calle Alcalá. The committee asked any clockmakers interested in participating in the competition to submit a quotation. This should include manufacture of an eight-day clock, with a bronze movement mounted on reduced steel shafts and an iron and wooden pendulum. Tenders were to include the cost of three bells.

Five different quotations were submitted, one from the German firm Ungerer Frères for 10,425 pesetas; from Chatêau Père et Fils for 10,290 pesetas; from the English clockmaker David Glasgow for 9,400 pesetas; from the Madrid firm of Alberto Maurer for 9,300 pesetas; and the cheapest, from French clockmaker Paul Garnier for 7,200 pesetas. The difference in price largely reflected whether or not the estimates included shipping, installation, customs, etc.

One of the first problems faced in calculating the final price of the work was the size and weight of the bells. The committee initially stipulated a weight of 1,125 kilograms, but some of the firms argued that this was excessive and reduced the figure to 400 or 500 kilograms. Eventually, it was decided that the total weight of the three bells should not exceed 1000 kilograms.[1]

The most expensive quotation, as we have seen, came from Ungerer Frères, successors to the famous house of Schvirlque in Strasbourg. The company, which had a representative in Madrid, submitted three proposals, two of which were rejected: one because it was for a 'luxury' clock and the other because the bells were to weigh 500 kilograms. The tender finally accepted involved a clock with three bells weighing 1000 kilograms. The initial cost was 6,500 pesetas and included all expenses, except the bells, giving a grand total of 10,425 pesetas. The pendulum swung once per second and the 12-kilogram movement comprised four different wheel trains, one for the time, one for the electric contact and the other two for striking the hours on the bells. They did not enclose the warranty, perhaps due to an oversight, but undertook to install it and set it in running at the designated site.

The tender from Chatêau Père et Fils —successors to the firm Collin, formerly Wagner— was for a carefully built eight-day clock, with pin escapement, spring suspension and two-second compensating pendulum. All movements would be assembled on frames. The clock would be a small 'sonnerie' and all necessary items would be included in the price, including the installation foot, cabinet, transmissions, installation, shipping and two 500-kilogram bells.[2] The total quotation came to 6,800 pesetas, but factoring in the additional costs of increasing the size of the movement and the weight of the bells, plus customs duties, the final cost would be 10,290 pesetas.[3]

The English clockmaker David Glasgow submitted a tender for a clock with a two-second pendulum. The powerful movement would be unaffected by wind, snow or the 'trepidation' of passing carriages. And it would be accurate to within four or five seconds per week. The movement would have a bronze barrel, steel shafts, a 'Denison' double three-legged gravity escapement, gridiron temperature-compensated pendulum with iron and zinc tubes, a large hammer for the bells and enough cord for an eight-day wind. The price was set at £153, which at the current rate came to 3,825 pesetas. In its report, the committee remarked that the laconic nature of the text, so typical of English quotations, left certain concepts unclear. It did not include the cost of the bells and shipping, customs duties, installation and the protective cabinet. The full final amount would therefore come to 9400 pesetas. The only advantage of this tender was that there were already two clocks by the same firm in Madrid.

The tender from Alberto Maurer, which, a priori, had the advantage of being from a clockmaker with a shop in Madrid, did not meet the general requirements, since it was for a thirty-hour clock with three bells chiming on the hour and quarter-hours. The movement was to be of the kind known as a 'free pendulum', manufactured by the German firms of Jucks and Maunhordt. The movement would be in bronze and the gearing in aluminum bronze. The entire clock was stated to be well and carefully made. As in the case of Chatêau Père et Fils, the total price included the cost of all necessary items, such as hammers, transmissions, placement foot, a glass cabinet to protect the movement, an electrical contact device if required to synchronise any of the indoor timepieces and other accessories, together with assembly, transport and customs expenses. Only the bells and their installation were not included. It came with a three-year warranty, during which time the firm undertook to wind the clock at no charge and to repair any damage not caused by an Act of God. The price was 4,575 pesetas plus the cost of the bells, which could be cast in Madrid for 4250 pesetas, and the installation, which was estimated at 175 pesetas, giving a grand total of 9,000 pesetas. If a 'large-chime' model were to be chosen — i.e., one that repeated the quarters and halves — the price would be 9,625 pesetas. If the bank preferred an eight-day clock to a one-day one, these figures would rise to 9,300 and 9,965 pesetas respectively. They also requested that payment for the clock be made in three instalments: once upon arrival of the movement to this place, another once it was installed and running, and the last after three months of operation, specifying that it was to be paid in gold coin.

The last tender came from Paul Garnier, an accredited French clock builder, who proposed a clock of similar characteristics as the other firms, although his quotation did not include the protective cabinet and no warranty period was stipulated. The price was 4,573 pesetas, but the firm considered that three small bells weighing 400 kilograms would be adequate. Matching the conditions of his tender to those of the other bidders would raise the final price to 7,200 pesetas.

Two of the firms included warranties with a commitment covering care for the clock and maintenance of the movement (Chatêau Père et Fils's warranty was for five years, and Maurer's for three). The other three failed to include a warranty.

The architects of the Banco de España, José María de Aguilar and Eduardo Adaro, gave a written submission on the proposals, suggesting that, since all the firms were of similar quality, the factor that would have to be taken into account was the ease with which the mechanism could be assembled and conserved. The best choice was therefore to choose one of the firms with a representative in Madrid, namely Maurer or Anduaga (the representative of Ungerer Frères).

In the end, the competition was won by English clockmaker David Glasgow, with an address at 20 Middleton Square, London. The first thing that had to be done was to contact Mildred Goyeneche y Cia. of London, a sort of merchant bank and correspondent of the Banco de España during this period, to act as intermediaries between the institution and the clockmaker.

On 22 August 1889, the Deputy Governor sent them the design for the façade of the new building in which the clock was to be installed and asked for information on certain key aspects of the construction. The final commission included the following stipulations: a chiming clock with three bells (weighing 750, 300 and 75 kilograms) that would strike on the hour, half-hour and quarters, at the builder's discretion; the pendulum should be of temperature-compensated type and oscillate once per second to regulate the constant-force escapement, arranged in such a way that every minute it would trigger the electrical mechanism synchronising the other clocks throughout the building. It was also specified that the hours should be rung on the large bell and there would be a repeat chime on the quarter and half hours. The clock would be wound daily to ensure that this operation was completed correctly.

Mildred Goyeneche y Cia. wrote back to the Governor of the Banco de España four days later, saying that it had delivered the design to Glasgow and that he would forward a Spanish translation of the clockmaker's reply. The Banco de España further notified the clockmaker that the dial would be made of stone and that the hands, bells and iron tower to house the bells were being built in Madrid.

The Bank wanted all the clocks in its new building to run uniformly by means of electricity. It therefore asked the English clockmaker whether it was suitable for the clock on the facade to be the one that regulated the operation of the others. If so, it would need to have a temperature-compensating pendulum oscillating once per second, that would regulate the constant-force escapement, arranged in such a way that every minute it would trigger the electrical mechanism to activate the others.

Glasgow reassured them that the movement for his clock would be highly accurate and would meet all the technical requirements. The pendulum would be temperature-compensated and the clock would be accurate to no less than four or five seconds per week. He also advised them that for a good chime, such a large clock would require four bells to ring the hours and quarters. As for the clocks through the rest of the interior, if they were to be electrically driven and controlled from the main clock, they should have a mercury-compensated pendulum oscillating once per second and should be housed in long cases. The price would be between £25 and £35.

At the end of September 1889, Mildred Goyeneche y Cia. sent the bank an English translation of Glasgow's final report and quotation. It said: 'The clock frame would be of solid cast iron and built in such a way that any part of the workings could be removed without discommoding the remainder. The three main wheels would be 16 inches in diameter and would be built of the best gunmetal. All the clock wheels would be purpose-sized and made of the same material, and the teeth would be machine-cut. The sprockets would be of hardened polished steel. The escapement would be built to the 'Denison' system. The pendulum would be compensated with zinc and iron tubes 13 feet in length, weighing 3 ½ English hundredweight. The clock would strike the hours on the large bell with a hammer weighing no less than 40 pounds and the quarters with a hammer of proportional weight to the small bells. All necessary steps would be taken to complete the clock ready for installation using the best material and workmanship. The cost of this clock would be £ 153 (one hundred and fifty-three pounds sterling)'.[4]

This estimate also described the clocks to be distributed throughout the building and connected to the main clock by electrical transmission: 'One or more clocks to show the time on dials of 24 inches in diameter, with solid mahogany or teak cases, compensating pendulums, all built using the best materials and workmanship. The price would be £ 15 (fifteen pounds sterling) per clock'.

Following a further exchange of correspondence, on 29 March 1890, the governor asked David Glasgow's firm to give a total cost for the clock installed in the building and running. The final price was to include the cost of the machinery, bells, freight, customs duties, labour and anything else that might be needed for it to be set working. They also wanted to know whether Glasgow's had a representative in Madrid who would install and maintain the clock, and asked about the warranty period. Once again, they sent him a drawing of the building, noting that the bell tower or turret in which the bells were to be installed was already built. The design established the layout of the clock, the chamber for the movement and all other requirements for proper functioning of the works. A free height of 25 metres was available for the weights. The stone clock face would not be illuminated at night.

Coinciding with this correspondence, the board paid 5,000 pesetas on the architects' recommendation to the master locksmith Bernardo Asins for the bell tower or iron armature he had built to house the bells of the turret clock.

At a meeting on 12 May 1890, the bank's Board of Governors officially agreed to pay clockmaker David Glasgow £386 for the turret clock for the new building. This included the cost of the three bells. It did not include the cost of shipping the clock from London to Madrid, customs duties and assembly of the clock and bells. Payment of the £386 would be in two instalments: half upon delivery of the clock and bells in London and the second half when the clock was in place and operating properly in Madrid. David Glasgow had a representative in Madrid, the clockmaker Ramón Garín, who would take charge of installing the clock and perform subsequent maintenance.

Ramón Garín had a clockmaker's shop on Calle Príncipe. He had just installed another Glasgow clock in the recently completed Santa Cruz Orphanage in the town of Carabanchel. The proposal was that the clock would strike the quarters with two or three strokes on an equal number of bells and that the hours would be struck only on the largest and loudest bell, as is the case in all clocks of this kind. It could be wound every day or just once a week.

In June 1890, Mildred Goyeneche y Cia. reported to the governor on the progress of the clock's manufacture. In May, Glasgow had committed to building it within three months. In August, the Bank sent a first demand for delivery. The clockmaker apologised, explaining that the project had been delayed by a strike among the workers. He promised to have it completed by the end of September so that it could be installed before the end of the year.

On 29 July, 204 pesetas were paid to Bonaplata Hermanos for twenty-eight brass Roman numerals, polished and attached to metal plates. They were secured to the stone clockface by stonemasons.

In light of continued delay in shipment of the clock, the Bank issued another demand on 10 October. Three days later, the clock finally left the port of London on the Spanish steamer Carpio, bound for the port of Santander. However, the ship suffered a breakdown during the voyage from London to Dover and delivery was delayed by a further few days. Finally, it arrived at port and was handed over to the manager of the Banco de España's branch office in the city. The mechanism arrived in ten packages that were transported by rail to Madrid. Glasgow sent a set of instructions in Spanish for assembly of the movement.

Luis Loubinoux, a plumber and mechanical builder from Madrid, installed the bells at the end of November 1890. One year later, he completed the roof of the clocktower.[5]

The clock was up and running by 1 January, 1891. Ramón Garín received 3431 pesetas and 25 cents for the installation and a further 1 peseta and 50 centimos a day for maintenance. Nonetheless, an invoice dated 24 March is extant, to an amount of 1250 pesetas for disassembling, repairing, correcting damage and installing the turret clock.

[1] The dimensions of the set of bells were put at 0 m 90 for the largest bell, 0 m 80 for the medium one and 0 m 70 for the smallest one.

[2] Fastened with screws, an arrangement that made it possible to disassemble one part without touching the others. They were all to be made of cast and hammered copper, polished and varnished, with single-piece steel shafts.

[3] This meant doubling the 2800 pesetas quoted for the bells, paying the customs expenses, calculated at 150 pesetas, increasing the last cost by 10% due to an increase in the dimensions of some of the components, including 600 pesetas for enlargement of the movement and an additional item of 210 pesetas. All this was subject to a deduction of 7.5%, i.e., about 835 pesetas.

[4] Banco de España Archives Historical Archives, Secretariat of Movable and Immovable Property, Box 1448 (former files 803 and 1604).

[5] Banco de España Archives Historical Archives, Secretariat of Movable and Immovable Property, Box 1447.

Amelia Aranda Huete