Clocks made for local trading were simple and had robust movements enabling them to have reliability in a harsh environment.

This example is typical of the painted shield eight-day running clock made in the Furtwangen era. It has a wooden frame with time and strike movements side-by-side, as opposed to older forms, which had the time and strike movements arranged in tandem front-to-rear. The brass gear wheels are mounted on wooden spindles and turn on wire arbors. Pinions are wire pressed into wooden spindles. The German language term for this type of wheel work is Holtzgespindlen. Later, the wooden spindles were replaced with machine turned cast brass hubs.

The painted wood faces or shields came from a separate and specialized cottage industry. Various decorative themes were selected to please the intended import country. The painter or Schildmaler, learned his craft in local schools. Some are signed on the backside.