Ty Pennington, whom was born as Gary Tygert Bruton Pennington, has recently released a whole new line of clocks and furniture with the Howard Miller Clocks company. While well known by much of America as the host of the ABC TV Show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, he is known in the United Kingdom as well for his television show Ty’s Great British Adventure, which Airs on UKTV.  He first found fame in the TV Reality Show Trading Spaces on the TLC network.

With Howard Miller Clocks, Ty Pennington has designed not only a great line of grandfather clocks, but also wall clocks, and very large or oversize wall clocks known as gallery clocks.  Some of the grandfather clocks are of a size that is small enough that they could also be considered grandmother clocks or grandmother floor clocks.  One of the clocks which we are classifying as a grandfather clock is actually a standing floor clock with a waterfall known as the Cascade Model and shown just below:

Howard Miller Cascade Waterfall Grandfather Clock by Ty Pennington, Model 615-058 615058

We are hopeful that Ty Pennington may soon design some mantle clocks.  Ty Pennington inspired mantel clocks could be a great seller, and Ty, we hope you are out there reading this and will make this happen, please.

One of our favorite more traditional Howard Miller grandfather clocks designed by Ty Pennington is the Joslin Grandfather Clock Shown below:

Howard Miller Joslin Grandfather Clock by Ty Pennington, Model 611-156 611156

We at 1-800-4CLOCKS are very excited about the partnership between Ty Penington and Howard Miller, and what it has and will mean for many lines of Howard Millers products already in the marketplace and on their way, we’re sure.

Thomas Tompion, an exceptionally well regarded clocksmith and watchsmith  and contributor to the field of horology, he was a British clocks and watch maker who lived in England during the 1600s through his death in the early 1700s.

His influence is still felt today, and the early bracket mantel clocks he helped to pioneer became the gold standard for British Bracket Clocks and mantle clocks for centuries to follow.   Tompion’s excellence was based on the sound design of his productions as well as the high quality of the materials used. This together with the outstanding skills of the workmen he employed gave him an unrivaled reputation throughout the known world.

His clock apprentices included George Allett, Edward Banger, Henry Carlowe, Daniel Delander, Ricard Ems, Ambrose Gardner, Obadiah Gardner, William Graham (nephew of George Graham), George Harrison, Whitestone Littlemore, Jerimiah Martin, Charles Molins, William Mourlay, Charles Murray, Robert Pattison, William Sherwood, Richard Street, Charles Sypson, William Thompson, James Tunn and Thomas White many of whom became important clockmakers in their own right.  Everything from grandfather clocks to miniature clocks.

Tompion’s clocks and watches command extremely high prices when they come up for auction, which is relatively rarely. Clocks made honoring Thomas Tompion’s legacy, quality and worksmanship have been reproduced by several makers over the years, including but certainly but not limited to Ridgeway Clocks and the Howard Miller Clocks Company.

Howard Miller Thomas Tompion Mantle Clock

In 1711, Tompion joined in partnership with the famous innovator George Graham (known especially for the Graham Deadbeat Escapement, still used today in fine grandather clocks and mantle clocks and wall clocks), who later developed the spring escapement further after Tompion’s death.

The Howard Miller Thomas Tompion Mantle Mantel Clock, by Howard Miller Clocks, has a German made Kieninger triple-chime movement (playing Westminster, Whittington & St Michaels chimes), and is in an absolutely stunning case, with the keywound clock’s mechanism visible from each side of the clock

“I would like to buy a Herman Miller grandfather clock, or do I mean one of the Howard Miller grandfather clocks?  I am sorry, I know the two names don’t have anything to do with one another, one, Herman Miller, making high quality furniture mostly for offices, and the other, Howard Miller, known mostly for their grandfather clocks, mantle clocks and wall clocks.  Sorry I confused the two, now which is which again.”

The above dramatization between Herman Miller Clocks and Howard Miller Clocks may seem a bit exaggerated, but not by much, and we have had thousands of similar or derivative conversations with grandfather clocks shoppers in particular.

Howard Miller was the son of Herman Miller.  Howard Miller joined the Herman Miller company, and as we understand it, was drawn early on into fusing the beauty of fine wood furniture and clock mechanisms.  We have seen Herman Miller Grandfather Clocks, Herman Miller Mantle Clocks, and Herman Miller Wall Clocks. The Herman Miller Clocks were made with electric, early battery, and winding mechanisms.  We have one special very early Herman Miller Mantle Clock and Barometer and a thermometer, in a highly unusual wood case that was likely made in the 1920s.  We have in the inventory of our retail stores Herman Miller Mantel Clocks and Wall Clocks, including a Herman Miller Banjo Clock.

As a young man, Howard Miller left his father’s well known and then well established Herman Miller Company, and opened up the Howard Miller Clock Company with a headquarters and manufacturing facility literally just across the street in Zeeland, Michigan, where the two companies are still headquartered and located today.  Both individuals have passed on, but family involvement and ownership has continued at Howard Miller Clocks.  And Howard Miller, while sticking to its core competencies in mechanical grandfather clocks, both cable and chain driven, and keywound chiming wall clocks and mantel clocks, and many clocks with quartz alternatives, they have also ventured more into furniture, including collections by Ty Pennington, and many curio cabinets, wine cabinets and bars, bar stools, and more recently, Howard Miller Home Furniture of many many different types, including bedroom furnishings and furniture.

So now you know — Herman Miller was Howard Miller’s father!

“Hello, I am very interested in purchasing the Howard Miller J.H. Miller II Grandfather Clock Model 611-031 (611031) with tubular chimes, or perhaps the Howard Miller J.H. Miller Grandfather Clock Model 611-030 (611030), which looks identical, but is several thousand dollars less expensive.  I would ideally like to see any grandfather clock I purchase in person.  May I stop by one of your stores to compare these clocks, and perhaps some other Howard Miller, Ridgeway, and Hermle Grandfather Clocks I have also found quite intriguing”.

The above grandfather clock sale inquiry is not at all unusual.  People, especially in an ideal world, want to see and hear and even touch all the choices before them in person.  Some grandfather clocks shoppers come carrying an array of wood samples, others carrying paint color chips, some bring along a friend for a second opinion, and some simply want to see and hear how each grandfather clock might sound, and the differences and similarities between and among different grandfather clock makers.

I know if I was considering spending several thousand dollars on a grandfather clock or floor clock, I would surely want to see it and hear it in person before I bought it, even id I knew it was made by a quality maker with an excellent reputation.  Having said that, there are literally hundreds of grandfather clock models to choose from, and at least in the New York tri-state area, which includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, it is difficult to find any place that will have even a significant number of new grandfather clocks on display.  We had in our Grand Central Station Store for many years, until we were forced to close it after the entire floor on which we were located was taken over and occupied by the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority, maybe 3-4 grandfather clocks on display at any one time, and as far as we knew, that was the largest selection in the New York City area.  The economics of selling grandfather clocks, and mantle clocks and wall clocks etc. has led over the years to a continuing and ongoing reduction in the number of brick and mortar stores selling both new and antique grandfather clocks.

We still make sure to keep some grandfather clocks on display in one or more of our locations, but when one adds in space for wristwatches and pocket watches, not to mention space for repair of mechanical cable driven and chain driven grandfather clocks, keywound wall clocks, antique mantel clocks and much more, it takes up space.  We try to keep much inventory in antique clocks and antique pocket watches (and like to purchase collections of old pocketwatches and wristwatches, and even clocksmith tools, whether the timepieces are working or not).

We frequently have to ask our clock customers to make a leap of faith, that yes, the grandfather clock will look as good and sound as good, or maybe better, in person.  We look for ways to help people deal with this legitimate desire to see a clock before plunking down thousands of dollars.

The good news is that when we get feedback from customers who buy without first seeing the grandfather clock in person, the feedback is almost universally that the grandfather clock was MUCH NICER overall than they expected.  A satisfied grandfather clocks customer and owner makes it all worthwhile!

Howard Miller J.H. Miller Grandfather Clock Model 611-030 (611030) (on left)

Howard Miller J.H. Miller II Grandfather Clock Model 611-031 (611031) (on right)

Do the grandfather clocks make the celebrity, or does the Celebrity make the grandfather clock?  We would like to know.  We are aware that many celebrities are owners of both antique grandfather clocks and new grandfather clocks, and grandmother clocks are quite popular as well.  One way we know this is that we have sold and installed grandfather clocks and grandmother clocks to many people who are household names, so to speak.  Generally, these famous business people, actors, government officials, university president, major network chiefs, religious leaders, heads of state, and heads of state giving gifts to other heads of state and visiting dignitaries, among others, will work through an intermediary.  Yet in most all instances we know who the so-called end users for these great timepieces are.  Usually because they tell us, they visit our shop, or they call for follow-up of certain kinds.

Aside from antique mantle clocks, antique wall clocks, and antiques grandfather clocks, the large majority of the emphasis is on the major high-end clock brands like Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, Hermle Grandfather Clocks, and Ridgeway Grandfather Clocks.  Seth clocks are also a good seller, as are Movado Clocks, especially for high-end corporate gifts.

We do not sell and tell, so you will never see anything about an individual customer unless the customer wants us to publicize the sale for some reason.  We currently have one client, who is an absolute mogul, known the world over, and he asked us to work with his interior decorator, and plans to have this home, once decorated, shot for Architectural Digest.  I think it’s a fair bet to say that if he wants it, he will get it.  So stay tuned, and we may be able to publicize that one.

In the days of now antique grandfather clocks over 100 years ago, the vast majority of grandfather clocks were time and strike.  The grandfather clocks would gong on each hour for the number of hours (e.g. 4 for 4 o’clock), and once on each half -hour.

Precious few grandfather clocks also played chimes, e.g. the grandfather clock westminster chimes which requires five notes, or perhaps the well-known bim-bam chime, which plays a ting-tang two note chime on every half-hour and on each hour for the number of hours.  Some very special antique clocks, such as one we now have for sale that was made in the 1700s in France, has a string that one can pull and the grandmother clock will then gong first for the hour with the number of hours, and then on 2 notes to signify each quarter hour.  This grandmother clock, or small grandfather clock, has what has since become known as a repeater function, which is prized both in clocks of all vintages, as well as in pocket watches.

Modern day grandfather clocks, at least the higher-end ones, come generally with at least one chime, with the westminster chime being the most popular.  They also come with with choices of chimes and grandfather clock sounds including the whittington chime, the saint michaels chime, the ave maria chime, and the ode to joy chime.  many of these grandfather clock sounds can be heard on our website at 1-800-4clocks.com.

Special features nowadays can include auto-night shutoff features with the chime stopping at 10pm and starting up at 7am, for example, or with quartz grandfather clocks, even volume control of the grandfather clocks sound.

These same features can be found frequently on howard miller mantle clocks, ridgeway wall clocks, and hermle mantel clocks.

When looking for high quality grandfather clocks and good grandfather clock discounts, many customers are unsure as to where to turn to get a good or great discount.  Also, many grandfather clock shoppers don’t know the difference between the different types of grandfather clock brands, nor do they know which brands are best.  Grandfather clocks features can cause a conundrum much of the time as well for grandfather clock shoppers.

At 1-800-4CLOCKS.com, we take the time to talk to customers about all of the above, in a very low pressure way, so that they feel they can make an informed and intelligent choice about their floor clocks or gift-giving selections.  At the same time, with our everyday low price guarantee, consumers and organizations can be sure they are getting a good deal.  We also throw in a lot of extras to make the sale both an even better deal and to make delivery and set-up and initial and future operation of grandmother clocks and grandfather clocks as easy as possible.  We want customers to come back time and time again, which many do, and to recommend us to their friends and family, which many also do.

One sad development in recent years, which we see accelerating likely both because of the current economic state and the giant Far East factory production, is a flooding of the marketplace with inferior grandfather clocks.  Some of these clocks are carried and sold by large, well known, and highly regarded chains of department stores and specialty stores (we can’t name names for concern of being sued).  Some of these sub-standard grandfather clocks have model names that are the same model names of clocks made by high-end manufacturers, and the names make them “sound” like well-known long-established brands.

Sadly, we get many calls from customers about their XYZ grandfather clock, and we know right away they have purchased a clunker.  The clocks have no paperwork, nothing about whom to contact if there is a problem, no hint at where they were made, etc.  In a word, these customers are, excuse the term, screwed.  And there is nothing we can do to help them with their “lemon” except to suggest they buy a quality grandfather clocks next time — something we know they don’t want to hear, at least no right then.  A grandfather clocks word to the wise.

Are you looking for the perfect wedding gift? Gift ideas for the bride or the groom, or especially for the couple?

We have seen an increasing trend over the years where clocks are used as integral gifts not only for the groom and bride, but also as presents for members of the wedding party, and sometimes even as a special wedding gift from the groom to the bride.  Wedding organizers, wedding planners, and those thinking about bridal registries take note.  Clocks are a wonderful item to add to a bridal registry.

Perhaps one of the most special gifts a parent or parent can give to their child and son-in-law or daughter-in-law to be, is one of the many great grandfather clocks we have offered over the timeline of our business.  Over time, a grandfather clock or a grandmother clock, or one of the special wall clocks as a gift, or mantle clocks as a present, has grown in popularity.

Even gifts to members of the wedding party, including presents to bridesmaids, and gifts to the Best Man and Maid of Honor or Matron of Honor, and present for all members of the wedding party, we have seen an explosion of this type of gifts.  Some of the most popular presents to wedding party members include Movado Clocks, Howard Miller Clocks, Hermle Clocks, Ridgeway Clocks, and Seth Thomas clocks.

We frequently consult with the gift-giver(s), and discuss the pros and cons of different gift giving possibilities.

It is advice we love to give, and hope anyone thinking about a special clock or clocks as part of a wedding or marriage, will call us to discuss the possibilities.  We can always be reached at 1-800-4CLOCKS, or 1-800-425-6257.

Of the many first questions we are asked by our grandfather clocks shoppers looking for grandfather clocks on sale, is, effectively, how big of a discount will you give me, and are you offering the best deal available anywhere.

It’s actually both an easy and a hard question to answer.  We try to always be the low price leader, especially in published prices and internet sales.  We pride ourselves on offering a Low Price Guarantee which is explained in some depth on our website at www.1-800-4clocks.com.

At the same time, there is so much more to consider when buying a grandfather clock than simply how good a discount you might get.  We can’t tell you how many calls we get from people who have purchased grandfather clocks from other dealers and retailers, and then either don’t know what to do with them, have major problems if any issue arises, or found that what they have purchased is not what they think they have purchased.  And by then it it almost always too late to do anything about it.

We offer, for highly discounted mechanical grandfather clocks over $1,000, free in-home set-up by a knowledgeable individual, not to mention free shipping which more than 90% of the time also includes free unpacking at the time of delivery.  The unpacking is especially valuable because it offers the customer added insurance and product protection if any damage occurred in shipping.  And this is a subject we review with all of of grandfather clocks customers before they receive their shipment of a Howard Miller or Ridgeway or Hermle or other grandfather clock.

Looking for grandfather clocks on sale is something any smart shopper can do.  At the same time, you want to make sure that if any issue arises, you will be able to go back to the place where you purchased the clock, where they will now only be both reachable and responsive, but will also know what they are talking about when it comes to grandfather clocks.

We are also very proud of our A Rating by the Better Business Bureau, which we feel reflects how responsive we truly our not only to our customers’ basic needs, but also to the natural clocks concerns that arise over time.

We at 1-800-4CLOCKS.com have observed the interesting trend of individuals much more frequently referring to grandfather clocks as grandfather floor clocks.  This is a term we almost never heard used before, yet we are hearing it lately with some frequency.

Over time, we have had many customers and shoppers in general refer to large wall clocks, the kind that are weight driven, wood, and a visible pendulum, refer to their clocks as grandfather wall clocks, or sometimes simply as grandfather clocks, not realizing that one of the defining features of grandfather clocks is that they can stand by themselves, and another is that they sit on the floor.

Floor clocks is a term used by many manufacturers in place of grandfather clocks.  Clock makers including Ridgeway Clocks, Hermle Clocks, and Howard Miller Clocks seem to prefer the term floor clock to grandfather clock.  It is certainly a popular term amongst grandfather clocks shoppers.  But how did we get from grandfather wall clocks and floor clocks and grandfather clocks to grandfather floor clocks?  Interest evolution in clock terminology, and not one we would endorse as being accurate.  We are not sure the tide has shifted on this, but we would certainly vote for grandfather clocks, floor clocks, tallcase clocks, hall clocks, or longcase clocks.

Our sense is that the term grandfather floor clocks is being used by someone somewhere, perhaps a grandfather clocks retailer, or maybe a grandfather clock manufacturer.  Or perhaps a horological journal, or in media articles or advertisements online or in newspapers, magazines, or general publications, or special interest publications geared to the home decor or office decor or interior decorating markets.

If you have any insight on this topic, please do share it wih us.

In the meantime, we will stick with the terms grandfather clocks, grandmother clocks, floor clocks, hall clocks, as well as the British tallcase and longcase clock terms.

We do know the one thing be can expect and be certain of over time is change.