A person’s home is meant to reflect who they are – their personality and what is important to them in terms of design, color, and style. When you walk into someone’s home you should immediately have a sense of who they are and what they represent. For many homeowners, the use of clocks as part of their décor can really set their home apart in terms of style and express the qualities that are important to them. Clocks – unlike larger pieces of furniture – are interchangeable throughout the home and liven up any room in which they sit. The different clocks that can accessorize a home include:

Mantel Clocks – Mantel clocks are defined by their size and portability. Owners can move mantel clocks from one room to another – or keep several in various areas of the home. A part of European in-home décor since the late 1700s, mantel clocks are enormously popular throughout the modern world.

Wall Clocks – As their name suggests, wall clocks hang on the wall of a home and can accent any style of furnishing. Some of the famous names in clock making – Howard Miller, Kieninger, and Ridgeway – lend their names to some of the highest quality wall clocks on the market.

Larger Clocks such as Grandfather & Grandmother Clocks – Considered furniture more than accessory pieces, grandfather clocks and grandmother clocks can ultimately define an entire room.

More than just a way to tell time, clocks – when uniquely displayed – are a part of a home’s overall décor. Those searching for a clock, or even several clocks, that will foster a home’s overall personality will surely find something to suit their style at 1-800-4CLOCKS.com.

Do you spell tabletop clocks as Mantle Clocks or Mantel Clocks?  An interesting language dynamic which affects how people buy and sell clocks has to do with this often seen simple variation on the spelling of either mantel clocks or mantle clocks.  Both are correct.  Major clock manufacturers use both spelling all the time.  A simple search of the 2 terms on Google (now is the time to make a guess as to which is more popular) shows - we just looked - about 194,000 search results for mantel clocks and 199,000 for the mantle clocks spelling. We view that as a strikingly similar number for the spelling variation.

Our general understanding, without having performed a scientific analysis, is that mantel clocks is generally the American spelling, and that mantle clocks is generally the British spelling.  Take geographic considerations into account, and the first is more popular in all of North America and the latter more popular in all of Europe.

Less of a variation than grandfather clocks vs. tall case clocks and long case clocks, but nonetheless a very interesting one.  If one looks at the manufacturers of new clocks, not surprisingly, Howard Miller Clocks, based in the USA, tends to use the mantel clocks spelling, while Hermle Clocks, based in Germany, tends to use the mantle clocks spelling.

Also, antique clocks, most of which were made in Europe, if one looks at the history of clocks, will frequently be seen with the Mantle Clocks spelling.

Personally, we like Bracket Clocks, and are pleased that there appears to be only way to spell wall clocks.

There is probably no single day of the year when clocks - whether grandfather clocks or wall clocks or mantel clocks - get more views than on New Years Eve.  The same holds true for wristwatches and other timepieces, whether tuning in on television to celebrate in cities around the country and world, or celebrating with immediate family and or a few close friends at home.

This is enough to make 1-800-4CLOCKS still relevant and shows the continued need and desirability, not to mention obsession, with the passing of time, and done so in an elegant way.

Atomic clocks, with their at least theoretical one-billionth of a second accuracy for the most accurate ones, and even computer clocks syncing with Atomic Time can supplant the need to be on the same page by watching television network broadcasts.  But a sense of a global community would still be missing and can be enhanced, at least for many, by joining the world with televised broadcasts of the exploits and celebrations in cities around the world.

Some households and parties will no doubt be celebrating around clocks they have purchased from 1-800-4CLOCKS as 2007 winds down and 2008 is welcomed in. We have seen this trend as it has been volunteered to us by some of our customers.  Whether a grandfather clock or grandmother clock, atomic or wall clock, mantel or anniversary clock, or a Rolex or Casio wristwatch, or a cell phone or iPod’s timekeeper, time will be marked by the device of your choice, whether your own or a communal resource like New York’s Times Square with its remarkable display and countdown to 2008.

Let us know if you and yours have any special stories or celebrations to share about how you rang in 2008, and whether a timepiece played a key, or even dare we say interesting, role.

This blogger has a somewhat unusual way of ringing in the New Year, which usually involves being in a movie theater (watching a movie, in case you are wondering), and not even knowing exactly when the clock is approaching, reaching, or passing midnight.

Please share your stories, and have a great time and happy and healthy year in 2008, however you mark time.

Just this morning we got a call from a lady who wanted to know if she could buy a clock she had seen somewhere once before which had twelve different types of frogs pictured on each hour, and with a different frog sound chimed on each hour.  Talk about a niche clock!

But it got us thinking.  What kinds of clocks that are not readily out there would you like to see?

Here are some types of clocks we have heard a need about.  Please email us or post on this blog if you see needs or markets for other types of everyday clocks.

1. How about helping to keep close to perfect time with a full size grandfather clock with Atomic Timekeeping aside from its obvious home decor value.

2. What about alarm clocks that do not make any ticking or other sounds.

3. Clocks to wake up the sleeping dead - alarm clocks that could help even the heaviest of sleepers be sure to wake up.

4. Large digital time numeral clocks, including wall clocks, and without all the bells and whistles of temperature, day, date, month and perhaps even your horoscope.  As the general population is aging. we hear more and more about the need for clocks with larger digits. We also hear more about institutions wanting time only digital wall clocks.

5. Computer and handheld PDA and Apple iPod or cell phone clocks - many interesting ones out there.  Anything you would like to see available that has not yet hit the market?  Also, how much do people rely on these clocks anyway.

6. CLocks with photos of your special someone. or even your entire family with, say, one person’s photo on each hour.  Would you want or buy one of these?

All clocks suggestions are welcome and encouraged.

A question we receive on a somewhat regular basis, especially from the younger generation, is whether watches and clocks risk becoming obsolete as cell phones, iPods, and other handheld devices emerge as omnipresent devices. Our short answer is an emphatic NO. Aside from the obvious decorative aspects of clocks and the personal style and accessory nature of watches, there is still likely to always be the ease of use and speed factor of having a dedicated device, whether it be on your wrist, on your kitchen wall, or on your office desk or kitchen wall. Also, grandfather clocks chiming and striking the hours can be replicated electronically, but the overall experience would never be the same. Wall clocks, mantel clocks, atomic clocks, and especially novelty clocks are likely to be here to stay, we predict for at least the next 50 years!

Disagree? Tell us why, hopefully thoughtfully, here on this clocks blog. Thanks!

Well, Thanksgiving has now come and gone, and the crazy mad rush shopping season has begun.  While most people are thinking about ipods, or plasma or HDTV televison sets, there are many businesses and individuals who are also looking to clocks as anything from corporate business gifts to prized possessions to be given as presents for weddings, anniversaries, important birthdays, from children to parents, and from parents to children, as cherished timeless keepsakes to be handed from generation to generation.  And of course, there are some who find a grandfather clock as the elusive perfect personal present for Christmas or Holiday gift giving for their spouse, for themselves, or other close relatives.

Not only grandfather clocks are becoming more common as heirloom gifts, but 1-800-4CLOCKS is also seeing an increase of gift giving by individuals and corporations with wall clocks, mantel clocks, novelty clocks, atomic clocks, and of course the gift for good corporate citizens and corporate customers or for corporate promotions of the marketing variety.

More choices and styles are also making doing your homework that much more important.  Clocks now feature more chimes than ever - you can hear the Westminster, Whittington, St Michaels, Schubert’s Ave Maria and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy Ode on the 1-800-4CLOCKS website for clocks that feature these chimes.  Other features such as volume control, lit cabinets, automatic night time chime shut-off option, and many more physical styles, including contemporary. modern, and old style, make clock shopping both more fun and more challenging than ever.  Also, without naming names, it is amazing the number of customers who come to 1-800-4CLOCKS after looking at clocks at many of the largest Retailers around the country, and can see the difference between a cheaply made clock, which 1-800-4CLOCKS attempts to carry none of, and one which is well-made.  The hallmark brands such as Howard Miller, Seth Thomas, Ridgeway Clocks, Hermle, Bulova, and Movado help ensure years of lasting quality and fine craftsmanship and materials.

As many of the higher-end clocks are increasingly being looked to as heirloom gifts, consumers and businesses are fortunate to have more GOOD choices than ever before.  Just be sure to look carefully before you leap.

An unfortunate group which is a very small percent of clocks shoppers, but probably have 90% of any “bad” experiences that are out there are customers whom really have not given any thought to what they have ordered or why they are ordering it.  ALSO, many clock shoppers tell us they were first lured by cheap clocks, e.g. grandfather clocks, they in some major mass market retailers, only later to realize the cases were made of plastic and the mechanisms were anything but special.

What this means is that there is a small but unfortunate group of buyers out there who in effect impulse buy, only to realize later that what they purchased is not what they want.

Among the key steps we recommend are looking at the overall brand image, quality, and reliability.  Then look at the case and make sure that is what you want.  Then there is a decision about whether to have a mechanical movement or a quartz movement, each with varying pros and cons (more on this in a future post).  A Home Decor or Office Decor fit is a must.  And the chiming sound should be welcome in the place where the clock finds its new home.

Finally, looking carefully at the warranty offered by the Manufacturer, and making sure that the Manufacturer is “real” and will stand behind their product, can make all the difference in the world!

Howard Miller Reading Time Table Clock    Model 645-421

With the addition of Schubert’s Ode to Joy and Beethoven’s Ave Maria Chimes, one will soon be able to listen to most all of the clocks chimes currently available.  These two newest clocks chimes add to the historically more famous, or at least utilized, chimes, which are the Westminster Chimes, St Michaels Chimes and the Whittngton Chimes.

It is worth noting that almost all of the quartz clocks playing either of these chimes give the Customer an opportunity to have not only the more traditional Chimes noted above, BUT ALSO to listen to the Ave Maria and Ode to Joy Chines on each quarter of every hour vs. hour only, which is the way Grandfather Clocks play these two newly added chimes all the time (currently, at least).  Take a look at several of the Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks to hear the different chimes.

Howard Miller Clocks and Ridgeway Clocks, in particular, offer many clocks with the Ave Maria Chimes (frequently in concert with the Westminster Chimes) and Ode to Joy Chimes.  Look around, listen, and enjoy!

OK, so I think I am an expert on clocks and time. I advise people in Companies on how to adapt their time systems to changes in Daylight Savings Time, and it has even become slightly complicated, perhaps even requiring a so-called expert, or so I might have called myself before today. A good chunk of the last week was devoted to the History of Daylight Savings Time, helping our corporate and individual customers know what to expect and why, and how it might even affect their own networks and employee time tracking system. Even owners of grandfather clocks wanted advice. We shared that these most recent changes came about as a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 signed by President George W Bush. We pointed to some of the unanticipated problems that occurred last week and that might be expected to happen this weekend. And how it could extend to every timekeeping gagdet of the numerous variety that exist in today’s world.

We even addressed energy savings, worker productivity, and even had the opportunity to put in a common public safety plug recommending battery changes to smoke detectors with each of the 2 changes in daylight savings time each year. Motherhood and apple pie.

We knew and spoke of software companies that were busily at work sending out last minute patches.

Well, talk about the emperor having no clothes, or in this case no clock or no telephone either. My telephone-pda-internet connection all-in-one-device, my umbilical chord to the working world at large, would not even turn on today. And guess what, the patch that was sent and had been applied didn’t help one iota! No time, no email, no internet connection, no nothing!

So much for good planning. My carrier-supplier shall remain nameless. Perhaps I’ll have better luck next time! If this does happen again, 1-800-4CLOCKS may feel compelled to name names. But I think because of the extra hour of sleep I got, I am feeling a little more relaxed and in a better frame of mind.

Timing intervals for both oiling and cleaning of mechanical clocks is a question 1-800-4CLOCKS is faced with throughout our history. Each time the same information is given, whether the mechanical keywound clock is a grandfather clock, wall clock, or mantle clock. Chiming clocks, which are for more than just telling time, do require more attention than time only mechanical mechanisms. This is as true for new clocks as it is for antique clocks.

The oil present in the mechanical clock breaks down over time, and eventually the metal on metal movement will slow down or operate irregularly.  Between that and the chances that some dust or dirt have also entered the clocks mechanism, effective clocks maintenance becomes critical.  Oiling and cleaning at defined intervals will absolutely increase the longevity of your clock, and perhaps prevent the need for major repairs to be done along the way.

Whether one is talking about a Bulova Grandfather Clock, a Howard Miller Grandfather Clock, a Ridgeway Grandfather Clock, or a Kieninger Grandfather Clock, all such clocks with high-end mechanical movements need attention throughout time. The 1-800-4CLOCKS.com recommendation — and other clocks professionals may-will have differing opinions — is for a complete cleaning every 5-8 years, and an oiling every 2-4 years. Any signs of problems should obviously lead the owner of the timepiece to advance this schedule.  In general, our approach and philosophy is more of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.

Oiling should only be done by a professional, or a capable horological hobbyist.  It is easy to damage the clock or create the need for more expensive repairs if clock oil is not applied correctly.  This almost goes without saying for the cleaning of a chiming mechanical grandfather clock, wall clock, or mantel clock.

With the appropriate care and feeding of your mechanical clock, not only will it keep better time, not only will it keep the total cost of ownership lower than it would be otherwise, but it will also make that much easier to have a working piece of horological history throughout time that can be passed and cared for from generation to generations.