Do Not Touch the Hands!

The end of Daylight Savings Time brings an interesting conundrum for cuckoo clock owners. This is of course the time in early November, where many people experience the “gaining of an hour,” by clocks being set one hour earlier, to “give” the sun an earlier rise.

The use and effects of this are debatable but as always, our issue is with the cuckoos. Many people and even manuals simply say to turn the hands backward on the clock whenever you rise on Sunday.

We say, respectfully, DO NOT DO THAT! Everything in a strike train movement is designed to go forward, not backward.
Also no good comes from the turning of the delicate cuckoo clock hands in the direction they should not go.
Instead, simply stop your pendulum for an hour when you arise, and restart it an hour later. This way you avoid turning the hands and moving the clock through the cycle of hours.

Then of course, sit back, listen to the calm ticking, and rejoice in the simple.