Where is the best place to purchase a discount grandfather clock, whether it is a new Howard Miller Grandfather Clock or a special antique grandfather clock?

We feel we know the answer, because it is from the source for all the best information and prices relating to grandfather clocks, which is 1-800-4CLOCKS.

1-800-4CLOCKS.com las a lowest priceg guarantee posted and explained on their website, which should give internet shoppers especially a high level of comfort.  They are also members of the bteer Business Bureau in good standing, as well as being part of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce community.

The brands that are carried are only those of the highest quality, NOT any of the many cheaply made imports now flooding all shopping channels, from some nice department stores to all across the internet, including cheap grandfather clock kits, which, like the others, frequently have many plastic parts and in some cases require diffcult assembly of in our view very cheaply made parts.

Most all of our mechanical grandfather clocks have high-end German made grandfather clock movements, and have solis wood cases generally made either in the USA or Germany.

So if you are serious about buying a high quality grandfather clock, you should check out www.1-800-4CLOCKS.com.  In the summertime, grandfather clocks are common high-end gifts to couples getting married, as well as graduation present, special birthday presents, and gifts for that hard to find milestone wedding anniversary gift.

Hey, it’s what we do.  And love doing it!

As retailers and etailers of grandfather clocks, we notice peaks and valleys in the purchase of grandfather clocks.  One clear trend we have noticed at 1-800-4CLOCKS is that more and more individuals are buying grandfather clocks as presents for themselves, for a wedding gift almost always for a child and there soon-to-be new son-in-law and daughter-in-law.  We also see many grandparents ordering a grandfather clocks as wedding presents for their grandchildren, one frequently similar to “the one” in the family.

People reognize the high-end grandfather clocks we sell as being of family heirloom quality, and our customers are not disappointed almost at any time.

A great trend is grandchildren with the means and desire to purchase traditional high-end grandfather clocks, usually in a traditional grandfather clock style, for their grandparents or, more commonly, their parents.  Generally this is gifting done to mark either a special wedding anniversary milestone gift or a grandfather clock as a birthday gift.

Mechanical, cable-driven grandfather clocks are the most popular, and are also the best clocks.

We are evn seeing this increasing trend cross-border and cross-continent, with orders from Canada, Western Europe, and the Far and Middle East for clocks being ordered for this very reason.

We once had a blog post titled something close to “This is not your grandfather’s grandfather clock.” Well, maybe we were wrong about that one.

Is your grandfather clock running too fast or too slow?  If so, what should you do about it.  This is a question we get asked many times, and we are attempting to provide here a useful guide for most owners of clocks.

Before deciding whether to raise or lower what is known as the pendulum bob - the usually brass round  weight near the bottom of the pendulum - it might first worth be asking whether the grandfather clock had been running fine for many years.  If so, and it has, say, after 5 or 10 plus years after purchasing it, a slow-running clock may be a symptom of a clock that needs a good cleaning and oiling.  If so, find a good local grandfather clocks repair center.

But what if your grandfather clock is new, or you’ve recently moved it, and it needs adjustment?  If your grandfather clock is RUNNING TOO SLOW, one should LOWER the pendulum bob to make the clock’s movement run faster.  If the clock is RUNNING TOO FAST, one should raise the pendulum bob to make the clock’s movement go slower.  One needs to have patience and be willing to experiment with how many turns of the screw beneath the pendulum will affect your clock.  Checking against a computer clock or other reliable timepiece once a day is a good idea, as is keeping notes of how many turns of the screw were made and the impact it had on the time.

Another key question is WHAT DIRECTION does one turn the screw beneath the pendulum to raise or lower the pendulum bob.  While it does not work the same for all clocks, the large majority of clocks made in the last 50 years will allow one to follow the direction of turning the screw clockwise or right to raise the pendulum bob and make the clock go faster.  Conversely, for most grandfather clock movements, if one turns the screw beneath the pendulum bob counter-clockwise or left to lower the pendulum make, it will make the clock go slower.

The best advice we can give is to try moving the pendulum bob a turn for every minute, for, say, up to a 10 minute daily variation vs. the correct time.  Recalibrate after seeing the results after 24 hours, and decide what to do the next day.

A final note.  We recommend not seeking the perfection of an atomic clock, but rather getting your clock to be accurate within, say, a minute or so per day.  After all, another way of looking at it is you can spend $25 for a very accurate quartz watch or many thousands of dollars for a Rolex, Audemars, or Vacheron Constantin.  One is buying more than accurate timekeeping when investing in a grandfather clock.

Howard Miller Newman Grandfather Clock Model 611-120 611120

In modern times, at least in most New Year’s celebrations witnessed by the author of this blog post, people who are indoors generally huddle around the television set as midnight is approaching.  Nowadays, many may be watching giant LCD screens or plasma or HDTVs, but the feelings are similar whether watching a 10 year old flat panel television, or a more dare I say primitive TV that might be 15 or 20 or so years old.  Could be cable, satellite, or the old fashioned analog signals (last year for that!) streaming and picked up through the air.

Most sets watch the change in time by watching as other huge crowds assemble in places like Times Square in New York, not far from our very own clocks Store.  One can also witness celebrations going on in different parts of the USA and different parts of the world.  And it is a holiday with such anticipation and high expectations placed by individuals on themselves.  A time for reflection.  A time to think about the future.

Now pretend you are going back 100 years in a time machine.  No television.  No electronics, period (if you are younger than 20 and reading this, you may want to take a deep breath right now ……).  So how might you celebrate the ringing in of the New Year?  Not unlikely is that many families probably celebrated the New Year coming in and the passage of the old one looking at a grandfather clock.  It is not hard to imagine families around the country and around the world, in their own homes or with others, ringing in the New York as the grandfather clocks were striking 12.

Even before grandfather clocks were first introduced in the mid 1600s, and at that time owned only by the most wealthy and powerful individuals of that era, people had smaller timekeepers which would have helped them know when to shout for joy, blow horns, kiss, or whatever the conventions of the time dictated.

When sundials were used before, I wonder exactly how New Years were celebrated in different eras in diffirent cultures.  Maybe in another blog post we will research and report on that.

My personal favorite way to spend New Years is to be at the movies with a loved one(s), and not even know exactly when midnight comes and goes.  Different, I know.

When working at your Toshiba laptop, or using your Apple iPhone, one might legitimately wonder just why would I need a grandfather clock in my home to tell time.

The short answer, which has been true since the advent of the wristwatch in the early 1900s, is that grandfather clocks are a form of, depending upon one’s perspective, art, tradition, or high quality home furnishings.  For this reason, grandfather clocks, also known as Floor Clocks and tallcase clocks, are here to stay!

They will continue to complement the homes and offices of today and the future as works of art, a means of carrying on a company or family tradition, or as ways of furnishing homes and offices around the world.

New forms of grandfather clocks will no doubt continue to be introduced, utilizing the latest in technology, such as atomic time and light projection and solar energy.  Some interesting examples of the ways new thinking and new technologies can help new design to emerge is the reasonably recent introduction of the Howard Miller Oasis Waterfall Grandfather Clock.  Who would have ever imagined a grandfather clock with a built-in waterfall?

Howard Miller Oasis Waterfall Grandfather Clock Model 615-062

Another trend we are seeing is the introduction of “dirt-cheap” grandfather clocks, most all likely made in the Far East, which are likely to leave many grandfather clocks discount shoppers mightily disappointed with their purchases.  From those we have seen, not only is using the word “wood” many times a stretch, but assembly may be required, and the end result will be a featherweight clock with an at best mediocre movement.

Who was it who said “Caveat emptor, baby”?

Whether you call your grandfather clock a Floor Clock, or refer to grandfather clocks as long case clocks or tall case clocks has a lot to do with which side of the Atlantic you were raised, or possibly what century in time one happened to be born into.  In the USA and Canada, grandfather clocks have been known as well, grandfather clocks, for well over a hundred years, after the well known Grandfather Clocks Song, which not only swept the nation, but also the North American vernacular.

Historically, in England and Western Europe in general, grandfather clocks were and still are referred to more frequently as Tallcase clocks or Longcase clocks.  The Floor Clock vocabulary has been used on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been reinforced over the years by the major makers of grandfather clocks, including Hermle Clocks, the Howard Miller Grandfather Clock company, Ridgeway Floor Clocks, the Bulova Grandfather Clocks Collection, and Kieninger Floor Clocks.

The grandfather clock and floor clock words are used relatively interchangeably today, even by many grandfather clock shoppers today at 1-800-4CLOCKS.

Grandmother Clocks is another term which is frequently asked about, with the only major difference being the height of the clock. Other than the height, in most instances, the two terms can be used reasonably interchangably.

Oh, and grandfather clocks are sometimes referred to as granfather clocks or grandfathers clocks, or even grand father clocks.  These are just simple common misconceptions of what the correct words and terminology are.

Granddaughter Clocks are smaller, and Grandson Clocks™, actually introduced by 1-800-4CLOCKS much earlier this year, are even smaller.  Keep an eye out for them at a retailer near you.

In this difficult global economic climate, money and spending it is on the minds of consumers more so than it has been in the last 20 plus years.

So why think about purchasing a grandfather clock at this moment in time?  The answer is that high quality grandfather clocks are heirloom quality timepiece investments that can and will be cherished by several generations.  These grandfather clocks, such as the J H Miller Limited Edition Grandfather Clock, are built to withstand the test of time.

They also make spectacular gifts either to mark milestones in one’s own life, or a very special family event, such as a new marriage or to mark a special wedding anniversary.

Clocks are an investment in time.

In the last post I related my story of my close friend who – along with her sister – was charged with cleaning out her parents’ home after their deaths just eight weeks apart from each other. While it was a grueling process, the women were able to complete it with honor and each came home with pieces that would serve as remembrances of their childhood home. My friend chose a grandfather clock that belonged to her father and once I saw it in her house I knew that I wanted something equally lovely for my own home; and something that would forever remind my kids of the place where they spent their childhood.

My search for a grandfather clock was much easier and much more pleasant than I anticipated. Lucky for me, the Internet has offered a whole new world of convenience when it comes to finding clocks of all kinds. I was able to logon and within moments I was browsing through truly unbelievable selections of grandfather clocks – from traditional to contemporary and even some really interesting and different clocks.

I was able to find a traditional style grandfather clock that fits perfectly in my home in terms of size and style. And best of all I know that for many years to come my kids will remember this grandfather clock that stood in their childhood home. Hopefully it will bring back wonderful memories for them some day as it has for my friend. And hopefully they will carry on the tradition by having a grandfather clock in their home for their own families.

There are those moments in a parent’s life that they will never forget; the day their child is born to be sure, along with the big moments – the first steps, the first lost tooth, the first dance, graduation – and the smaller moments as well. When these moments come upon us we tend to take a snapshot in our head so that we can remember every detail later on better than any photograph album ever could.

I surely reveled in all the firsts and accomplishments of my daughter as she grew up and getting her first job was no exception. She worked so hard all through college to earn her undergraduate degree while holding down several part-time jobs. And when she graduated she went right on to graduate school to earn her MBA. I could not have been more proud. Today, all this work has paid off as she has been offered a wonderful position with a terrific company.

While I am so happy for her I am also saddened by the fact that this job will take her to another state where she will living on her own. I will miss her terribly but know that this is the culmination of all her years of hard work and she deserves the reward. And so I am focusing on helping her decorate and prepare her very first home as a grown woman.

To surprise her I have purchased her a grandfather clock for her new house – something very similar in style to the one that I have in my living room; something that will always remind her of home.

She has always loved our grandfather clock and now I am able to give her one of her own as she celebrates this new journey in her life. I hope that it will bring her (and one day, her family) as much joy as it has brought us.

Many homeowners choose to expand their home with all season rooms – allowing them to increase their living space and add value to their home. All season rooms, like their name suggests, are able to be used regardless of the season; a change out in windows transforms the space – screen windows from late spring through mid-fall for a beautiful breezy room in which to entertain and storm windows during the colder months so you can still feel as though you are outside but are comfortable in terms of temperature.

Decorating all season rooms is part of the fun of having them to begin with; they are rooms in which you can really express your personal style. Perhaps you would like a lovely sitting area in which you and your guests can sit and enjoy a cocktail, or an extra eating area for everything from barbecues to breakfast. All season rooms allow homeowners to use their homes in a new and different way and really bring the outdoors inside.

But in decorating this space it is very important to do it in a way that allows the room to flow seamlessly with the rest of the home; it should not look like an addendum, it should like it was always a part of the house. To this end, more permanent pieces can help transform an all season room into an actual room. A piece such a grandfather clock is a classic piece that will help to anchor what is normally considered to be a “transitory” room. Grandfather clocks help create a focal point in a room and transform it into something solid and permanent – like the grandfather clock itself.