Many Lantern Style Wadokei were fitted with Alarms. The power drive mechanism and operation was simple and basic.

The Alarm consisted of a dedicated crownwheel and verge arbor mounted on the Wadokei frame, the arbor protruded through the top plate and terminated in a double hammer head. The hammer head had limited movement within the inner rim of the bell when oscillating. This also served to limit the verge engagement with the crownwheel resulting in a contiuous ring of the bell.

The power drive to the Alarm had a dedicated simple power train with weight and counterwieght. There was a small “great wheel” for a separate rope, plus a first motion shaft directly coupled to the crownwheel.

The Alarm release consisted of a twin arm crank mounted between the main frame uprights. One arm engaged in a slot on the alarm power train, the other arm rested behind the rotating dial.

In the centre of the dial there was several holes around the centre, into which a pin could be inserted at the appropriate hour / half-hour time that the Alarm was to be sounded. When the dial reached this time, the pin would lift the crank arms and release the alarm train. The Alarm would sound for the complete fall of the alarm weight.

Later Wadokei were spring driven with a similar release mechanism.