Consumers of all industrial and personal use items have heard of and to some degree follow the Consumer Confidence Index. People on Wall Street and Economists all look at the Index of Leading Economic Indicators. Manufacturers and economists alike look at the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, as among other things as a bellwether for signs of potential inflation on the horizon. Well here and now we would like to introduce the Clock Index.
Clocks by their nature are organizational creatures, whether they are the heartbeat of the home as a grandfather clock that all can hear and tell the time of day. Wall clocks throughout the nation, and the World, tell people in homes what time of the day it is, and in offices can be even more integral to the workings of an organization with everything from the start of day, to meetings, to lunchtime, to coffee breaks, to quitting time can all be measured and watched by looking at a wall clock near you. We have had many customers purchase atomic wall clocks for precisely the reason that they do not want employees discussing or arguing about whether it really is 5 o’clock or whatever the quitting time is, or not. They see atomic clocks as productivity enhancers.
So should our Clock Index be more than the types of clocks we offer, such as grandfather clocks, mantle clocks, wall clocks, atomic clocks and much more, and should they are highlight the makers, such as Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks, Hermle Floor Clocks, the Ridgeway Grandfather Clock Collection, Kieninger Wall Clocks, Hermle Grandfather and Mantel Clocks, Americana Grandfather Clocks, or should the Clock Index take a completely different wither micro or macro view of the work of clocks. Should it perhaps include the history if clocks, including the history of grandfather clocks, grandmother clocks, wall clocks and more, or should it highlight the current clock makers like Howard Miller Clocks, Kieninger Clocks, Hermle Clocks, Ridgeway Clocks and more, or should it include some well-known but no longer extant manufacturers of clocks such as Sligh Grandfather Clocks, Bulova Grandfather Clocks, Seth Thomas Clocks including the famous Seth Thomas Grandfather Clocks, Seth Thomas Wall Clocks and Seth Thomas Mantel and Nautical Clocks, among many others.
If one goes father back in clock history, simply 25 years and earlier, there an be thousand of clock makers and tens of thousand of clock and watchmakers around the globe going all the way back to the late 1600s to the present. The horological history is rich and well documented in many places, and the Clock Index could be the focal point for bringing much of it together.
There are also membership associations such as the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) and the American Watch and Clock Institute (AWCI) which are by themselves repositories of vast amounts not only of timepiece expertise and teaching, but also of clock and watch history from the golden days to the present.
Any thoughts individuals may have about the clock history, the current clock and timepiece market more broadly, and how a clock index might fit into all of that and be of most use to grandfather clock, wall clock and mantle clock shoppers, as well as to those studying clock history, would be most welcome to give us their time and thoughtful input.
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