Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A small clock with a carrying handle, originally designed for travelling
Wikipedia
A carriage clock is a small, spring-driven clock, designed for travelling, developed in the early 19th century in France, where they were also known as "Officers' Clocks". The first carriage clock was invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet for the Emperor Napoleon in 1812. The case, usually plain or gilt-brass, is rectangular with a carrying handle and often set with glass or more rarely enamel or porcelain panels. A feature of carriage clocks is the platform escapement, sometimes visible through a glazed aperture on the top of the case. Carriage clocks use a balance and balance spring for timekeeping and replaced the larger pendulum bracket clock. The factory of Armand Couaillet, in Saint-Nicolas d'Aliermont (France) made thousands of carriage clocks between 1880 and 1920.
A carriage clock has in the past been a traditional gift from employers to retiring or long-serving staff. However, in modern times, with changing work patterns and changing desires, this is much less the case.
Usage examples of "carriage clock".
The little carriage clock which she kept in her bedroom struck eleven, then twelve.
Three chimes echoed from the little carriage clock that stood on the mantelpiece on the far side of the room.
There was a stillness without speech, a very brief stillness, only enough for the chiming brass carriage clock on the desk to strike the half hour and then to encompass the tinkling vibration it left in the air.
A car went down the road, and the little carriage clock on Olivia's mantelpiece ticked away the passing moments.
Donovan's gray eyes regarded his friend for a time, A French antique carriage clock tick-tocked on a chrome and rosewood sideboard across the room.