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 the past, this grandfather clocks blog has shown that the White House has been home to a Grandfather Clock, perhaps well over a hundred years.  From looking at the latest issue of Time Magazine, we were pleased to see that not only is there the grandfather clock in the Oval Office, but there is also another one in President Obama’s Private Office as well, shown in a photo with him sitting behind a desk with a painting of former President Ulysses S Grant in the background.

This strongly suggests that The White House has been home to grandfather clocks for well over a 100 years.  And that the President’s have always seen fit to keep these clock masterpieces on display throughout the generations.

Howard Miller Clocks currently has makes Limited Editions of Presidential Grandfather Clocks, with grandfather clocks named for Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy (sold out), and we believe Gerald Ford being the most recent introduction.

We would vote for a Barack Obama limited edition grandfather clock to be made, if not by Howard Miller, then by another major clocks manufacturer.  Perhaps if over time no one fills this need, then perhaps 1-800-4CLOCKS will manufacture this clock ourselves.  Any potential buyers out there? Let us know!

Grandfather Clocks in White House Obama's Private Office Ulysses S Grant Painting

As no office should be without a grandfather clock, the White House Oval Office also proudly displays a grandfather clock all the time, and has through the administrations of many Presidents.  Here below is are photos of grandfather clocks hard at work in the Oval Office with President Obama and others.

President Obama Chief of Staff and grandfather clock on St Patricks Day

Sasha Obama admiring grandfather clock while being praised by President Obama

Grandfather clock buyers, collectors, sellers, and all horology beginners to experts - here is a new one to think about.  At least new for us and grandfather clocks.  We had a grandfather clock customer who claimed to recently have conducted a study which concluded, with what scientific framework or methodological rigor we do not know, that buyers of grandfather clocks frequently gravitate to grandfather clocks that somehow look like them.

Now while we have occasionally seen some grandfather clocks buyers wearing bonnets atop their heads, we have yet to encounter a customer with a split pediment or swans neck.  We have met some who might do well on American Idol were they to perform the major grandfather clocks chimes, such as the Westminster Chime, Whittington Chime, Shubert’s Ave Maria Chime or the wonderful Beethoven Ode to Joy Chime.  But that sounds like, not looks like!  Yet this study apparently claims that much like individuals frequently look like the dogs or cats they own, or some say come to look more like each other over time, they conclude the same can be true with grandfather clocks and their buyers.  We were told that this was discussed over in merry old England, and while only anecdotal over there, that owners and family members do sometimes look like their longcase clocks or tallcase clocks, even when those clocks have been passed through generations as family heirlooms.  We wonder, which came first — the grandfather clocks gene or the biological family genes passed on through the ages?

We requested pictures or photos of clocks and their owners, and even did some searching ourselves, and while we came up emoty, we were told that no one volunteered to be photographed to demonstrate this correlation, and sharing photos could get them in legal hot water or trouble.

Do you believe this?  We personally have our doubts.  But it is quite an interesting grandfather clocks theory, and one we thought worthy of at least documenting.  Strangely, we could find no references from the major search engines to support this kind of claim.  So if it is in fact true, remember you read it here first!  We know inquiring minds want to know as much as possible about clocks, so we strive to bring you the latest all the time.

If you have any photos and stories you would like to share on this subject, please do write to us, and we will gladly share anything that seems newsworthy or “grandfather clocks worthy”.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to go back to the clocks shop!

In a post on this blog shortly after the November Presidential General Election, we featured a picture of then-President Bush talking to President-Elect Obama from the Oval Office, with a historical White House clock in the background.

After President Barack Obama took office on January 20, the pictures of him working in the Oval Office on the first day of his new Presidency show that VERY SAME Grandfather Clock in the background.  You can see the 2 pictures below.  One thing for sure we can conclude this time, is that whether a Democrat or Republican or somewhere in-between, or whether we are in “post-partisan” politics now or not, American Presidents still have great taste in grandfather clocks!

President Obama and Rahm Emanuel on Day 1 in Oval Office with Prized Grandfather Clock

Now Ex-President Bush and grandfathers clock call Now President Obama

President Bush and grandfather clock call President-Elect Obama on Election night offering congratulations

We would also like to thank one of our blog readers for posting history about this grandfather clock, which we are repeating here for convenience purposes:

From Answer.com article on the Oval Office: [courtesy of K. Nixon]
“A large case clock, commonly called a grandfather clock, built in Boston by John and Thomas Seymour, c. 1795-1805, stands in the northeast portion of the room.”

Grandfather clocks are both cool or hot, depending upon one’s terminology, and we have a great grandfather clocks selection at 1-800-4CLOCKS.

The vast majority of high-end mechanical grandfather clocks, whether they have cable driven movements or the chain driven movement type, have 8 day movements.  This means the movements, when fully wound, will run for eight days.  This is true for Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, Hermle Floor Clocks, the Ridgeway Grandfather Clock Collection, Bulova Grandfather Clocks, and the made-to-order Kieninger Grandfather Clock Collection.

One question we are asked with some regularity is whether a grandfather clock can be damaged if it is allowed to wind down completely, or if it is stopped - by stopping the pendulum - while the weights are, say, halfway down.  The short answer is no, this should not hurt the mechanism of one’s grandfather clock.  The grandfather clocks are built to both withstand the pressure of the weights if they are partially down or fully down.  When winding a chain-driven clock, it is important, as it would be all the time, not to pull the chains too hard so that the weights go higher than they should.  But this would not be any different whether the chains are being pulled up after 7 days or after the clock has stopped and fully wound down after eight days.

Many super high quality grandfather clocks in fine condition that have been owned by the person writing this post have been left more or less as decorative pieces vs. timekeepers and chimers, in some cases for years, and these floor clocks are no worse for the wear, or perhaps the lack of wear!

Grandfather clock maintenance is of course still critical, with most experts recommending a cleaning and oiling at least every 3 years, as the oil will tend to dry out over time and cause more wear on the internal mechanism if it is not sufficiently lubricated.

Oh, and to start your grandfather clock up again if it has stopped (aside from any necessary winding, of course), don’t forget to move the pendulum on your mechanical grandfather clock with gentle nudges or pushes or swings from each side until you hear it ticking away and can hear a consistent ticking sound, known in the trade as being “in beat”.

Wishing all clock collectors, admirers, and everone else in the world a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2009!

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.

Not too late into the night of November 4, 2008, and shortly after Senator John McCain conceded defeat, President George W Bush called the newly victorious Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on his amazingly historic win and new status as President-Elect of the United States of America.  Note the integral role the White House Oval Office Grandfather Clock is playing!

President Bush and grandfather clock call President-Elect Obama on Election night offering congratulations

As can be seen time and time again, whenever truly important things happen in history, grandfather clocks may be nearby.  See an actual picture below of President George W Bush calling to congratulate President-Elect Obama on his timely (and called early in the evening) victory.

What do you think are the odds that Bush was telling Obama about this GREAT new grandfather clock timepiece  he was about to have in his new Oval Office.  Well, one could always dream … or would it be a nightmare?

If that Grandfather Clock could talk, I bet it would have some mighty interesting stories to tell!  They’ve had books on many a White House dog, maybe now is the time to consider a book from the perspective of this grandfather clock.  Does it have it name?  Know the maker?  We don’t know, and have never researched the clock. It looks early American to us, and would be a fitting fixture as such in the White House.

If only clocks could talk.  This one would have MANY MANY 15 minutes of fame!