How Much are antique Grandfather Clocks worth？ Why are they called Grandfather Clocks？

Antique long case clocks, grandfather clocks, how much are they worth today? And are they good investments in 2022? I'm going to use this clock as an example. It's my clock. I've owned it for almost 20 years and I paid £1,500 for it, £1,500. And it's turned out to be a colossally bad investment. The information I'm going to give you here is based on a lot of data. These clocks, antique long case clocks, have been around since about 1680. But in 1680, they were worth a fortune. And the reason for that is that these things were made for the uber rich. And so they were right up there when it came to luxury items. And if you could even afford one of these things, of course, you needed to be able to tell the time. And the vast majority of people at that time couldn't tell the time. They were never taught to read the clock. Why would they be? They had no chance of ever owning a clock. So in those days, the way an ordinary person would tell the time would either be by using the sun. Yes, the sun. A sundial. You found sundials all over the place and everybody could read a sundial. Or if you were fortunate enough to live near a church, you'd listen out for the hour bells. Then you'd know what time it was. Hang on a minute. I've just realized I haven't told you why grandfather clocks are called grandfather clocks. You can thank the Americans for that. I'll edit it in now and pop it at the end of the video. The early days of long case clocks then, these things were worth stacks of money. But as the years rolled by and they became cheaper to make, prices began to drop. And the reason for that was this, the industrial revolution. Ordinary people were now making quite a lot of money. And so this new bulging middle class, they all wanted long case clocks. And so they began to become mass produced from the 18th century onwards. This one dates to the very early 19th century. Let's call it 1820. Remember this long case antique grandfather clock owes me 1,500 pounds. But in the last 20 years, these things have, well, they've dropped in value. Shall we say quite a lot? Shall we just say they have imploded in value? There's no polite way of putting it. Clock prices, long case grandfather clock, have collapsed through the floor up until about now. I'm going to get on to this. And this is all because of fashion. From 1680 to about 20 years ago, they were fashionable. Everybody wanted one. Then nobody seemed to want them. And these things, particularly in auction, just fell through the floor. So now I'm going to give you the value of this clock today. And then we'll move on to the interesting subject of whether these things are good investments today to buy at today's prices. It'll all make sense this. But before I give you today's valuation, you've got to know a little bit more about the clock so you can understand its value and why I paid 1,500 pounds for all those years ago. Look at the face. Look at it. It's effectively a piece of art. I mean, look at that. That's a hand painted dial. It's Scottish R. Murray Lander. So, you know, I said, well, 1820, something like that. George III. It's an oak case. It's quarter cut oak. So you see all the lovely grain. It's just a really nice kind of middle market thing. Just really nice. But again, back to the face, that piece of art here. Let me go through it very quickly. You know that it's Scottish. So who is it going to celebrate if not Robbie Burns? I mean, look at that. We have a tavern scene here. We've got these three characters drinking, of course, whiskey. We've got a lovely dog in the right hand side. Dogs always sell antiques, by the way. There's just an aside, a free tip for you. But take a look at it. Isn't it lovely? And then it says here, Willie brewed a peck of malt taken from the Robbie Burns song. Kind of song that would have been singing in a tavern circa 1820. It's just gorgeous. So this is an eight day movement. So in other words, you wind it once a week as opposed to a 30 hour movement, which would need winding every day. So it's a nice thing. Anyway, back to the face. It's celebrating the world as people knew it or rather how they saw it in 1820. So we've got Albion on this side, Europe, Britain, the British Empire, that kind of thing, which is very good and interesting. So that depicts there. Then we have Asia depicted over here. This exotic scene with a camel. We've got America down here or the Americas. We've got a bag full of cotton there representing trade. My favorite bit, I've got to tell you, is this area here representing Africa. We have this African princess who looks amazing, but even more interesting than her with her bow and arrow is the elephant. Look at the elephant. This thing was painted by somebody in Scotland who had never seen an elephant before, but that's what he thought an elephant looked like. It's just a gorgeous snapshot in time. So after hearing all of that, here is what this clock is worth today. Oh, dear. OK. On a very bad day in a very bad auction, that clock will make £150, 10% of my purchase price plus the commission. On a good day in a good auction, £300 to £400 plus commission. That might owe you £500 and a bit. And in a good antique shop today with a guarantee, £500, £600. Meaning in 20 years, not taking into account inflation, I've lost around £1,000. But prices are on the up. So the good news for you is this. If you can buy one of these, an antique grandfather clock today in 2022 for around 20 to 50% of its value 20 years ago, then you indeed will make a great investment. So that's all good news then, isn't it? But why are grandfather clocks called grandfather clocks? Well, he's an American called Henry Clay Worth, a songwriter who in 1876 introduced a song. It was a hit all around the world and it was called My Grandfather's Clock. And in the song, he sings about his grandfather's clock, which was one and a half times taller than his grandfather. He was obviously singing about a long case clock. But since 1876, long case clocks, because of the song, have been referred to as grandfather clocks.