The keeper’s care guide, revised 2026
Care of a Rosen piece
Most pieces need very little: a steady room, a weekly winding and to be left alone. This guide gives the general rules first and then notes for each kind of piece.
The room
Keep a piece in a room that stays at roughly the same temperature all year, away from radiators, fireplaces, kitchens and windows that take the afternoon sun. Mechanical pieces prefer between 16 and 24 °C and a relative humidity between 40 and 60 percent. Feathered pieces prefer the middle of both ranges.
Stand a piece on a level, stable surface at least a hand’s width from the edge, where it will not be knocked by a door, a vacuum cleaner or a dog. Pieces with eyes should not face a window, for the sake of passers-by.
Winding
- Wind a spring-driven piece on the same day each week, slowly and fully, with the key provided and no other.
- Stop when the key resists. Do not force the last half-turn.
- If you are going away for longer than the piece’s reserve, let it run down. It will come to no harm and can be wound again when you return.
- Do not leave a piece wound and stopped for months. A spring held taut for a long time loses strength.
Cleaning
- Dust cases and stands with a soft, dry brush. The house lacquers its brass; polish will strip the lacquer.
- Clean glass eyes and crystals with a dry cotton swab. Do not use water or glass cleaner.
- Wipe walnut cases with a soft cloth. Wax them once a year at most, with the wax the house supplies.
- Do not touch feathers. If a feathered piece becomes dusty, ask Keeper Services for a feather-setter’s brush and instructions, or for collection.
When a piece stops
Most pieces that stop have run down. Wind it. If it does not start, or starts and stops again, or makes a sound it has not made before, do not open it. Write to Keeper Services with the certificate number and a description of the sound. The makers can usually identify the fault from the description and will say whether the piece needs to come to the House.
What not to do
- Do not open a case, remove a crystal or lift a feather.
- Do not oil anything. Every piece is oiled at servicing with the oils it was made for.
- Do not lend a piece to an exhibition without writing to the house first. The house will usually help, and will want to know who will wind it.
By kind of piece
Particular notes
Singing birds
Let a singing bird sing at least once a week; bellows leather that is never used stiffens. If the song becomes breathy or a note goes missing, the bellows needs attention. Do not try to clean the whistle.
Figures and automata
Run a figure through its full cycle once a month even if it is not on display, so that every cam and lever moves. Keep figures out of direct sun, which fades bisque and silk. Writing and typing figures should be given fresh paper of the weight stated on their certificate.
Feathered pieces
Feathers are cut from laminated keratin film and set on silk. They are not harmed by gentle air movement but are damaged by dust, smoke, cooking vapor and fingers. A feathered piece kept in a case needs nothing more; one kept in the open should be brushed by a feather-setter every second year.
Penfield instruments
- Keep the instrument on a bedside table, not on the floor or a windowsill.
- Wipe the contact band with a cloth barely dampened with water. The silk cover is replaced at any servicing, free of charge.
- Keep the confirmation key apart from the instrument, as the handbook advises. During the suspension, the key will turn but will not engage registers V.5 to V.8.
- Instruments of every mark are serviced at no charge. The Mk I tone cabinet has no band and needs only dusting and an annual tuning.
Clocks
Set a clock by moving the minute hand forward, never backward, and never while it is striking. Clocks made by the house since 1979 are regulated at servicing to within thirty seconds a week.