Yes, I think you are right re: “degrees” of steam-punkishness. I’m still not into putting decorative chunks of brass and old steam fittings on perfectly functional computers. A bit of ornamentation on something that was designed to be ornamental (e.g.: a clock) is another thing entirely 😉

Re: the permanent fix. I’m thinking about properly adjusting the mechanism. Apparently this is done by bending the pendulum crutch (the piece of metal that gently “grips” the pendulum and transfers the motion to the clock mechanism). I know when I looked at the mechanism it was clear that it wasn’t perfectly straight: my guess is that someone had previously bent it to correct the beat. You bend it towards the side you have lifted to trim the swing… and it seems to me that it was bent the opposite directly. I’ll see once I get a decent pair of needlenose pliers.