The writer of this blog post has always been a sucker for a clock with a moonphase dial, sometimes also referred to as moondials, whether moonphase grandfather clocks, moonphase mantel clock or bracket clock, or moonphase wall clock.  And watches too!

With antique clocks, dials with a moonphase were especially prized, and were found most often, when they were found, on grandfather clocks or floor clocks.  The lunar cycle is 29 1/2 days, which is one full revolution of the moondial on the moonphase clock.  When there is a full moon outside, the clock is supposed to show a full moon at the top center of the moonphase dial.  It will take another 29 1/2 days to be in the exact same position again.  In the olden days, these days were actually used by farmers to help to know when to plant crops.  They were also of use for people traversing the oceans, although a movement that would work on a clock with enough reliability was invented later and also had multiple uses for navigation and charting voyages.

In more recent years, moondials are seen on many types of clocks.  They are also on wristwatches too, as well as some antique pocket watches. Many clocks, particular in the relatively lower price ranges, and generally with all chain-driven mechanical grandfather clocks, the moonphase dials are faux dials (the nice, and French, word for fake), and are stationary and do not move.  hey are for decorative purposes only.  Most higher-end cable driven grandfather clocks, particular by makers such as Howard Miller Clocks, Hermle Clocks, and Ridgeway Clocks, have working moonphase moondials on their grandfather clocks.

A working moonphase dial on a new or antique grandfather clock is a great feature, if one can afford a clock in that generally somewhat higher grandfather clocks price range.  Keep an eye out for grandfather clock discounts and individual grandfather clocks for sale that have this feature.  You very likely will not be disappointed, whether a grandfather clocks enthusiast or not.

Howard Miller Stewart Grandfather Clock Model 610-948 with working moonphase dial

Increasingly we are seeing a trend towards people, usually very close relatives, buying really high quality grandfather clocks and grandmother clocks as housewarming gifts or homewarming gifts either for their loved ones, such as children getting married, a special anniversary, parents relocating, or simply as gifts to themselves when moving to anew home or a second home.

The gift of a grandfather clock can be highly personalized and a wonderfully creative gift idea.  Grandfather clocks have become almost traditional gifts both for couples themselves as well as present for loved ones on special wedding anniversaries or milestone birthdays when looking for the perfect birthday present or perfect wedding anniversary present.

We see the gifting of grandfather clocks becoming a new housewarming tradition, and many of our customers are also calling it a homewarming gift – a term to which we have taken a liking.

Personalized plaques commemorating special dates and occasions are just one way to make a grandfather clock or a grandmother clock be meaningful housewarming gifts to people.  Frequently, picking out a traditional grandfather clock design or contemporary grandfather clock that may be reminiscent of a clock that one of the gift recipients grew up with can be an important element in choosing a specific clock.  Many people will choice either a chain driven mechanical clock or a cable driven mechanical clock because it was the type they grew up with and made them feel most comfortable.

We find that the most popular makers of grandfather clocks for housewarming gifts are Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, Hermle Floor Clocks, and the Ridgeway Grandfather Clock collection.  Howard Miller clocks, Ridgeway Clocks, and Hermle clocks, in addition to Bulova Clocks and others we sell are also very popular as less expensive but still very much appreciated housewarming gifts.  Grandfather clocks, wall clocks, mantel clocks, atomic clocks, grandmother clocks, and mantle clocks all make wonderful housewarming gifts, homewarming gifts, and special wedding anniversary presents and special birthday presents.

Clocks make great gifts for almost all occasions!

When purchasing or shopping for grandfather clocks, how important is it for you to have a visible pendulum that is visibly swinging back and forth inside the tower or waist of the clock.

Is this a “must-have” feature to you when thinking about purchasing a grandfather clock.

Remember that many grandfather clocks have solid wood doors where the pendulum and weights are not visible, even when they are present.  Some consumers obviously prefer the solid wood door covering the entire waist or tower of the grandfather clock.  In addition, some grandfather clocks are sprint driven instead of weight driven, and they will not have the visible weights working in the case even when the pendulum is there.  If the grandfather clock also has a platform escapement, there will be no working pendulum visible at all.

Nowadays, there are other options and therefore more considerations when shopping for a grandfather clock.  One is the advent of the decorative grandfather clock, generally quartz or battery driven, where when when opens the door to the grandfather clock, one may find storage shelves or even a bookshelf.   Another reasonably new technology is Quartz or battery operated grandfather clocks where the pendulum is moving back and forth, yet generally powered by magnets rather than the mechanical grandfather clock movement.  In these clocks, the visible weights, while reproducing the general look of a mechanical grandfather clock, will be stationary, and will therefore not move either up or down but will always stay in the same position.  The grandfather clocks weights therefore are decorative only in these cases.

So if you are looking for an “old-fashioned” mechanical weight driven grandfather clock, it comes down to a simpler question.  Do you want a grandfather clock with a glass door, or not?

Let us know your clocks preferences.

Which is the best maker of grandfather clocks?  This is a question we are asked almost daily.  It is a difficult question to answer, both because there is so much cross-ownership in the world of grandfatherclocks, and because there are so many criteria to take into account when comparing both within single grandfather clock brands as well as between the various grandfather clocks brands.

One “fact” seems simple, and least in the opinion of the writer of this blog post.  Based on overall perception and awareness by consumers and organizational buyers of grandfather clocks, Howard Miller grandfather clocks have the most overall awareness, and are perceived by most — the large majority, is our sense — as being the highest end grandfather clocks maker.

We should point out that the mechanical grandfather clocks we sell all currently have high-end German movements, made either by Hermle (whose grandfather clocks movements were used by Howard Miller Clocks exclusively before they purchased Kieninger about seven years ago) or Kieninger (which also makes its own branded Kieninger Grandfather Clocks).  To complicate matters of comparison further, Ridgeway Clocks (which is owned by Howard Miller Clocks) also currently use Kieninger Clocks movements in their Ridgeway Grandfather Clocks.  And just when you thought you had a grasp on the high-end grandfather clocks market, one should be aware that Bulova Grandfather Clocks have been using high-end Hermle Clocks movements, and not surprisingly, Hermle Grandfather Clocks use Hermle grandfather clock movements.  Also, Bulova Clocks, in recent years, has been making grandfather clocks using the Sligh grandfather clocks designs with Hermle grandfather clocks movements, as Sligh Furniture used to do before they exited the grandfather clocks marketplace.

All of these grandfather clocks makers use solid wood cases, at least for their wooden vs.wrought iron or stone waterfall grandfather clocks.

If you know think you understand the high-end grandfather clocks market, just wait 2-3 months.  It will no doubt continue to be a somewhat wild grandfather clocks ride.

Many of our best customers, and other consumers simply shopping with general inquiries, ask about what German Grandfather Clocks for sale we have.  In fact, all of the mechanical grandfather clocks we have for sale, those that are cable driven and keywound, and those that are chain driven, current have movements which are made in Germany.  The two remaining high-end movement manufacturers that still make quality movements in any quantity are both German companies, which are Hermle Clocks and Kieninger Clocks.

Hermle clocks currently supplies movements for Bulova Grandfather Clocks and, of course, Hermle Grandfather Clocks.  Kieninger Clocks currently supplies mechanical movement grandfather clock movements for mechanical Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, mechanical Ridgeway Grandfather Clocks, and of course mechanical Kieninger Grandfather Clocks.  Kieninger Clocks is owned by Howard Miller Clocks.  Until about seven years ago, most all Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks had mechanical Hermle Grandfather Clock movements installed.

So if you read the above carefully, you will note that all the mechanical grandfather clocks offered by Bulova, Hermle, Ridgeway, Howard Miller and Kieninger have German mechanical grandfather clock movements installed.  Where the grandfather clocks cases are made is a whole another subject entirely.

So to summarize:

Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks with mechanical movements currently have German made movements made by Kieninger Clocks, a German clock company.

Hermle Grandfather Clocks with mechanical movements have German made Hermle grandfather clock movements, made by Hermle Clocks, of course (and another German company).

Ridgeway Grandfather Clocks with mechanical cable driven and chain driven movements, which is all of Ridgeway’s mechanical clocks, have German made Kieninger Grandfather Clock movements installed.

Kieninger grandfather clocks with mechanical cable driven and chain driven grandfather clocks have grandfather clocks made by the German company, surprise, Kieninger Clocks.

Bulova Grandfather Clocks have mechanical movements, both chain driven and cable driven, which are made by Hermle Clocks, a German clock company.

So when shopping for clocks on sale, a better question than “Where can I buy one of those high quality German grandfather clocks?” might be “Are there any grandfather clocks that you sell that might not be considered German grandfather clocks?”

When you’re shopping for discount grandfather clocks on sale, perhaps you will have to call us to find out.

As we near the end of the first decade of this millennium, it is as good a time as any to look back over the last decade in horology, and an especially good time to look forward to 2010 with the coming of the New Year.  The last decade has seen the rise of some great new grandfather clocks features, and the introduction of many new styles of clocks, especially among Contemporary Grandfather Clocks.

Aside from grandfather clocks features such as auto night shut-off and illuminated dials, there has also been the introduction of what we at 1-800-4CLOCKS would consider to be the equivalent quality of disposable grandfather clocks by no-name makers that have just started to flood the market in the last couple of years.  What is more notable, is that several of the most respected discount retailers have started to carry these, pardon the expression, pieces of junk.  We became more and more aware of them when individuals are calling and wanting to know how to get them running, only to be told we never even heard of that grandfather clocks “brand”, frequently named so that it sounds like an established brand.  Frequently, plastic and plywood and batteries are the key ingredients in these generally very inexpensive, and surely cheap, grandfather clock imitations, in our view.  Some even have the customer doing grandfather clocks assembly when they did not realize that was even part of the plan.

Replicas and reproductions of great clocks are nothing new, and by themselves are not indicative of inferior grandfather clocks quality.  Brand like Howard Miller grandfather clocks, Hermle grandfather clocks, Bulova’s grandfather clock collection, along with Ridgeway and Kieninger still offer super-high quality at a good value.  Solid wood cabinetry and mechanical grandfather clock movements made in Germany.   Surely heirloom quality timepieces, which make special wedding and spectacular anniversary gifts, not to mention special birthday gifts and great presents for almost any occasion.

We hope that customers will realize the difference between quality and disposable grandfather clocks.  2009, and no doubt coming at the same time as The Great Recession, seemed to us to be the peak of the plastic plywood battery driven grandfather clocks which most likely won’t make it to see the year 2015 — as far away as that may seem — much less be around for future generations as heirloom quality gifts.

Happy Holidays and quality affordable grandfather clocks to all, and to all a goodnight!

We would suggest the following 3 resources:

1. 1. Look on this page on our website to see if you can find an answer to your question(s): just click on -> http://www.1-800-4clocks.com/page/CLOCKS/ClockFAQ
2. 2. You can locate a Howard Miller Authorized Service Center local to you here -> http://cql.howardmiller.com/HM/ServiceCenterLocator.aspx. NOTE that all mechanical Howard Miller clocks had Hermle movements in them until about 5 years ago, and that most any if not all of these Service Centers should be able to work on any Hermle Clock.  This Service Center Network is a great resource, and we have had an excellent experiences working with Service Centers around the Country (and also Canada) using this Service Center Network.  Probably at least half of these Service Centers can work on antique clocks too, as well as other Brands of Clocks!!!!
3. 3. You can order Hermle (and other) Parts (e.g. movements, weights, pendulum, keys, etc.) from the following 2 suppliers -> www.BlackForestImports.com and www.Merritts.com.  While we have no relationship to them whatsoever, we personally have had good results working with them ourselves.  Their contact information is available on each of the noted  websites.  We would most definitely recommend calling them rather than attempting to order from their websites (which would likely be a fruitless effort).

Howard Miller History or Howard Miller Clocks History.

Did you know that Howard Miller was the son of a man named Herman Miller, whose super high quality furniture Company bore his name and still does this day.  Howard Miller decided he wanted to make his own mark on the world, and succeeded, especially in regard to grandfather clocks.  This subject comes up often with visitors to our Clocks Stores!

Herman Miller’s and Howard Miller’s Factories are just across the street from each other in Zeeland, Michigan.  Many of our customer are VERY surprised when this point comes up.  Herman Miller actually produced clocks in small quantities before the Howard Miller brand was born.  We have one great banjo clock from this period.  We believe these clocks to be highly collectible!

Incomparable workmanship. Unsurpassed quality. A quest for perfection. It’s what Howard C. Miller insisted on when he founded the company back in 1926, at the age of 21.

Even then, Howard Miller understood the need to create products that would be steeped in quality and value. He expected nothing less than the best. And it was only under those strict conditions that he allowed his name to grace every clock manufactured at our sprawling facility in Zeeland, Michigan.

Howard Miller was schooled in the fine art of clockmaking by his father, Herman, in the Black Forest region of Germany. Howard developed into a visionary whose keen sense of innovation spawned a tradition of excellence that has been uncompromised through three generations.

While the early years focused on the manufacture of chiming wall and mantel clocks, Howard Miller also produced trend-setting avant garde clocks that stand today in collectors’ galleries. During World War II, Howard Miller joined forces with the Ford Motor Co. to produce anti-aircraft covers. In the 1960s, the company turned its attention to grandfather clocks, eventually earning the company the title of “World’s Largest Grandfather Clock Manufacturer.”

In 1989, Howard Miller began creating collectors cabinets with the same attention to detail and craftsmanship inherent in their clockmaking.

Fashioned from glass and hardwoods, the cabinets are ideal for displaying heirlooms, plates, glassware and other collectibles.

As part of the company’s continuing effort to bring customers only the best in handcrafted products, Howard Miller recently acquired three companies:

The Hekman Furniture Company produces a strong cadre of carefully sculpted hardwood pieces that range from 18th and 19th Century reproductions, to contemporary products featuring fine metals and exotic woods. The Woodmark Company makes fine upholstered pieces. And the exquisite movement in many clocks we offer is made by Old World craftsmen employed by the Kieninger Company of Germany.

While Howard Miller products might once have been primarily considered as gifts for weddings, anniversaries and retirements, the company’s expanded line of offerings is enticing more and more buyers who simply desire quality timepieces and furniture in their homes and businesses — no occasion required.

Howard Miller offers hundreds of items to complement any decor ranging from portable alarm clocks to desk sets to wall and mantel clocks to collectors cabinets to limited edition grandfather clocks. And in price ranges that may surprise you – from $5 to $15,000.

No matter the price of the purchase, you have the same assurance that Howard C. Miller provided when he began offering clocks more than 70 years ago:

That quality be reflected both in the products we create, and in the people whose artistic talents we rely on to manufacture them.

The legacy left by Howard C. Miller isn’t an easy one to emulate. But it’s the only way we know of doing business. Incomparable workmanship.

Unsurpassed quality. A quest for perfection.  1-800-4CLOCKS.com is proud to partner with Howard Miller Clocks in bringing the finest howard miller grandfather clocks, howard miller wall clocks, howard miller mantel clocks, atomic clocks and so much more to the public at large.

We are proud to be a Howard Miller Authorized Dealer!

As Western Civilization is beginning to enter its annual Holiday Season, with the associated crass commercialism and materialism, not to ignore, though, the ever-time and always worthy hopes for Peace on Earth and goodwill to all men and women.  Did not mean for this to sound like a Hallmark Greeting Card.

Casual Shoppers and those more seriously looking at grandfather clocks and wall clocks and mantle clocks are facing an ever growing variety of choices.

More and more “cheap stuff” – not inexpensive, but cheaply or poorly made, are flooding the market with brand names one has never heard before but are named so that they somehow do have a ring of familiarity, and associated legitimacy, for prospective timepiece buyers.  The grandfather clocks discount and sale category have been especially targeted with a flood of poorly made grandfather clocks and grandmother clocks, with many parts made of plastic and generally with battery operated quartz movements not attributed to any maker and not likely to last very long either.  Oh, and don’t forget the instruction book.  We get countless calls from individual aspiring horologists who just purchased one of the poorly made clocks (we won’t name the Stores, but several big-name chain store names keep coming up) and want the instruction booklet that was somehow not inside or with their clock.  If we had it to send, we might actually do so as a courtesy, but in this case we are highly doubtful that these instruction books ever even existed in the first place.

Okay, so if a smart shopper stays away from the no-name cheap stuff, what else should they look at?  Good name brands do make a world of difference both in knowing you are getting a quality clock and also knowing that someone will still be there to service the clock, or replace it if absolutely necessary.   Some of the trusted names we carry and have had overall excellent experience with are Howard Miller Clocks, Ridgeway Clocks, Hermle Clocks, Bulova Clocks, Kieninger Clocks, Movado Clocks and more.  While the movement and casing quality may vary within brand, they are generally reasonably highly consistent, and high-quality, across similar product segments within each line, e.g. traditional mechanical wood-cased grandfather clocks.

Sticking with grandfather clocks, there are 4 basic types of grandfather clocks when considering the movement types.  First, and least expensive, are quartz or battery-operated movements.  These have the advantage of being much lower cost, have volume control, no need to wind,  auto night shut-off, and are usually found in smaller clocks.  The disadvantages include the fact that the chimes are recorded and on a sound chip, and can vary pretty dramatically in sound quality, but really never as good as a mechanical clock where one hears the chime rods actually being hit by hammers.  Second, are chain driven mechanical clocks, which usually have 8 day movements, and are wound by pulling down on each of the 3 chains to bring up each of the 3 weights (some clocks models have 2 weights and some only one).  Many people are drawn to these clocks because they are the type they grew up with.  The chime sound quality is good.  The only real downsides are that the movements are not likely to last as long as a cable-driven grandfather clock movement (discussed next), and these clocks tend to have fewer “bells and whistles”,  e.g. working moonphase dial, and automatic nighttime shutoff.  Since the movements are physically smaller, they tend to be in smaller cases with less depth as well – so they can sometimes be the perfect fit for that special space .

Third are mechanical cable-driven grandfather clocks.  These are the clocks that are wound in the dial-face with a winding crank key.  For practical purposes (keep in mind there is a 4th clock movement type still coming), this is best, or at least tied for the best, type of clock movement.  They can last several generations, have the ability to have multiple chimes, and these clock models have varying degrees of the “extras” or bells and whistles, including illuminated dials and amazing carved wood cases.

Fourth is the little-known tubular chime grandfather clock, where long hollow pipes, made of different metals, act as the chime rods.  These clocks have a much deeper and louder gong sound.  Very few people even know what they are.  They are expensive to maintain, if for no other reason that few people know how to work on them.

This is a very general clocks shopping guide which can be used as a handy reference when looking for grandfather clock discounts and grandfather clocks on sale.  If you go for one of the name-brand clocks, one can be fairly certain that they are getting their money’s worth.

More to come on this horological subject.

Almost everyone has heard of Fashionistas, and has their own different interpretation of the meaning.  Well, watch out, because a new breed on consumers are emerging who  may do to Grandfather Clocks what Fashionistas have done to the world of fashion.  Anyone care to guess how the grandfather clock of the future might be affected?

A GrandfatherClocks-ionista is a person devoted to grandfather clocks, particularly those that are rare and unique, or very high-end. It is a term used to define a person, whether a serious collector or passionate timepiece shopper, with a penchant for grandfather clocks shopping and a natural flair for combining both traditional and contemporary clocks styles.  In today’s society, being a GrandfatherClocks-ionista is by no means a negative term.

GrandfatherClocksionistas simply look at Grandfather Clocks as Art, and the sense of style they develop along the way is the true masterpiece.  They are very knowledgeable and realistic when it comes to timepiece and horological trends, and mixing home decor and interior decorating and design fashions in with their current tastes in clocks.

GrandfatherClocksionista is the lexical combination of the words GrandfatherClocks, and Sandinista, a Nicaraguan authoritarian political party.  Despite recent trends to make this term more acceptable, it should be noted that while its etymology connotes negative political consequences when used in North America, when combined with another term like the horological Grandfather Clocks, it would take on an air of levity and poking fun at the serious grandfather clocks collector.  People might think of this term as more like the Grandfather Clocks Police when it comes to looking at and commenting upon grandfather clock design and trends in timepieces.

Ultimate, the GrandfatherClocks-ionista is one who believes in the power of Grandfather Clocks and the exalted nature of wall clocks, mantel clocks, atomic clocks, and watches too.  They may know, or at least think they know, all of the major Grandfather Clocks brands such as Howard Miller Clocks, Bulova Grandfather Clocks, the Ridgeway Grandfather Clock Collection, and Hermle Floor Clocks.  And also a lot about antique grandfather clocks and grandmother clocks too.

We will advise as we see this trend increasing or tapering off.  Let us know what you see and hear any time about clocks as it relates to this trend and timepieces.

The fashion police.
Fashionista is the lexical combination (see ‘portmanteau’) of the words Fashion, which is the socially decided (see ‘groupthink’) garb to be worn by those wishing to be accepted in high society, and Sandinista, a Nicaraguan authoritarian political party.