Manage your clock assortment using a digital chart
For those who have a passion for antique and vintage clocks, maintaining and organising a collection can be a daunting task. However, with the help of a spreadsheet in LibreOffice Calc, managing your collection can become a breeze.
With over six years of experience in collecting antique and vintage clocks, the author of this article has found the spreadsheet to be a quick and easy way to record and view information about their clocks.
Setting Up Your Spreadsheet
To create an effective spreadsheet for your clock collection, it's essential to set up columns for essential clock attributes. These may include:
- Identification Number or Catalog ID (unique for each clock)
- Clock Name or Model
- Brand or Manufacturer
- Year or Approximate Date (vintage/antique)
- Type (e.g., wall clock, mantel clock, grandfather clock)
- Movement Type (e.g., mechanical, quartz)
- Material (e.g., wood, brass)
- Condition (e.g., working, needs repair)
- Acquisition Date
- Purchase Price or Value
- Location (where the clock is stored or displayed)
- Notes (any additional info like provenance or repairs)
Utilising LibreOffice Calc Features
Once your spreadsheet is set up, you can use LibreOffice Calc's features to improve management. For instance, freezing the header row so column titles stay visible while scrolling, applying filters to easily find and sort clocks by date, brand, or condition, using conditional formatting to highlight clocks needing repair or with high value, inserting data validation or drop-down lists for columns like Type or Condition to ensure consistent entries.
If you wish, you can also add images in adjacent cells to visually identify each clock.
Organising Your Sheet Layout
It's recommended to keep one main sheet as the master inventory. Consider separate sheets for repair notes, valuation history, or provenance details if extensive.
Backup and Update Regularly
To prevent loss of data, save your file in the LibreOffice default format (.ods) and export backups to Excel or PDF when needed.
While there aren't templates specifically for clock collections in LibreOffice Calc, this customised spreadsheet layout modeled on typical collection management practices will provide effective tracking and organising of your antique or vintage clocks.
If you prefer a ready-made solution, you might adapt generic inventory or timesheet templates from Excel or Google Sheets, but these usually require conversion and customization to work well in LibreOffice Calc.
The author uses a spreadsheet called "Clock collection valuation and service schedule" for their collection, which contains information such as maker, model, country of origin, motion type, original purchase price, current value, year of manufacture, date acquired, service date, date oiled, notes, and whether the clock was sold or gifted.
A Practical Example
The author has over 100 clocks in their collection, and a realisation of the need for maintenance often occurs when the clock stops. By keeping track of information about their clocks, they can ensure that their collection stays in top condition.
The author's antique or vintage clock collection can be seen in their YouTube video showcasing their wall clock collection. You can watch it here. The author encourages comments on their video.
The spreadsheet is accessible from any device with cloud storage, making it easy to manage your collection no matter where you are.
The author recommends LibreOffice and its spreadsheet called "Calc Spreadsheet" for those who don't have MS Office or refuse to pay for it. With over 825,000 page views on their blog since 2015 and an average of 24,000 views per day, it's clear that many people agree.
- To efficiently maintain and display information about their vintage clocks, the author found using a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet handy, categorizing each clock by type, such as wall clocks or antique mantel clocks.
- When documenting their antique clock collection, the author decided to include the movement type, material, condition, and purchase price in their spreadsheet, ensuring the latest technology is leveraged alongside their traditional timepieces.
