A bare, minute kantina in St Paul's Street in the heart of Valletta has been brought to life by a self-taught gilder who finishes reproductions of traditional Maltese wooden wall clocks known as arloggi tal-lira.

The arlogg tal-lira is so called because it used to cost a gold sovereign but now even reproductions cost a bomb.

Dorian Dimech, 33 uses the water gilding method which is a very specialised technique. In the past, much of the gilding was carried out using the water method.

The techniques of water gilding and the tools used have remained unchanged for centuries. The Egyptians used water gilding techniques over 3,000 years ago, and some of the artefacts gilded by craftsmen in the time of the Pharaohs still remain in perfect condition today.

In the book Antique Maltese Clocks, printed and published by Progress Press in 1992 for Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, to coincide with the first exhibition organised by the Fondazzjoni, Patrick Formosa wrote that the arlogg tal-lira dates back to the 17th century.

"The arlogg tal-lira had two doors. The outer door was glass-framed, displaying the dial behind which was fixed the mechanism, and below which, further down, was the aperture or slot showing the oscillating pendulum," Mr Formosa wrote.

The clocks measure about 51 cm by 61 cm (20 inches by 24 inches).

White deal makes up the frame of the clock, which includes two ornate parts, one on top called ornat and the bottom part called mensula.

The sanded wood is first given a layer of rabbit glue. Once this coating dries, a mixture of a finer rabbit glue and English chalk, known as whiting, is applied. When dry, the English chalk allows the clock maker to cut designs into it.

Each gilder has his own secret about the 'right' mixture of rabbit glue and chalk.

About 10 coats of this mixture are applied, one every 24 hours. The coating has to be thick enough to allow the gilder to engrave designs in it.

Once dry, the chalk is sanded until it is as smooth as marble.

The next step is to transfer designs by means of carbon paper. Then with a special tool, the design, half a millimetre deep, is cut into the chalk.

The chalk is then coated with a mixture called red bole, boll, consisting of animal fat, clay and rabbit's glue. Here, again, gilders have their own formula.

Six layers of red bole are applied. Once the red bole is applied, it should not be touched by hand, because the moisture and acid deposited by the touch would repel the gold leaf.

The red bole is moistened with water and the gold leaf transferred on to the clock frame by means of a dry brush. The gold leaf is burnished with a special tool having a head made of a highly polished agate stone on a wood handle, making the gold shine by pressing it harder onto the coating of bole.

The rest of the frame except for the gilded parts is painted with a paraffin-based paint.

The clock face and the wood are prepared by two other craftsmen.

"It takes about 22 days to make one clock. The clock's timing mechanism is imported. There are timing mechanisms that are wound up by clock work but a battery-operated mechanism is installed in the smaller version of the clocks.

"The clock was copied from the niches holding statues of saints one often comes across at street corners. It would be too much work for one craftsmen to carry out all these processes.

"In the old days, the clock-maker used to produce all the parts of the clock", Mr Dimech said.

Albert F. Santucci, auctioneer, appraiser and fine arts consultant said that during his 43 years in the business he has sold only about 50 arloggi tal-lira, which indicates how rare such clocks are.

The last three he sold two years ago. A late 18th century clock, needing restoration in the timing mechanism, was sold in November, 2001 and fetched Lm5,400. The other two clocks fetched Lm6,200 and Lm5,400.

"Early 19th century clocks which are extremely rare could easily fetch over Lm7,000.

"In order to check the date of manufacture of the clock, one would have to check the timing mechanism to see whether the maker engraved his initials on it.

"Other details to look for are the construction and shape of the clock and the nails that were used. On the provenance of the mechanism, I consult Louis Busuttil, who is an expert in this field," Mr Santucci said.

Mr Santucci has a waiting list of clients who want to buy an antique arlogg tal-lira.