Howard Miller & Ridgeway Clock Service

Howard Miller began as a clockmaker, taught by his father, in the Black Forest region of Germany. When he founded his company he started out manufacturing chiming wall and mantel clocks. Later the company turned to manufacturing grandfather clocks.

Howard Miller is in Michigan and also owns Ridgeway and offers hundreds of items ranging from home furnishings, wall and mantel clocks, and grandfather clocks. Their prices range from $5 to $15,000.

I have serviced many Howard Miller and Ridgeway grandfather clocks. Depending on the movement in the clock, they can be overhuled or need replacement when they stop running.  Your mechanical clock should be oiled every two years and thoroughly cleaned every five to ten years. If you move I also offer set up service.

Prague's 600 Year Old Astronomical Clock

The Prague clock had its 600th anniversay in 2010. Prague's Astronomical Clock has windows at the top showing the apostles. It also has an Astronomical Dial, which is the oldest part, and the Calendar Dial underneath with various sculptures around.

 There is a presentation of statues of the Apostles at the doorways above the clock, with all twelve presented every hour. There are four figures flanking the clock that are set in motion at the hour, these represent four things that were despised at the time of the clock's making. There is Vanity, represented by a figure admiring himself in a mirror. Next, the miser holding a bag of gold represents greed. Across the clock stands Death, a skeleton that strikes the time upon the hour. Finally, the Turk tells pleasure and entertainment.. The other statues, that don´t move, are an Astronomer, a Chronicler, a Philosopher and an Angel. When the apostles finish their journey, the golden cockerel at the top crows and quivers its wings, the bell rings and the clock chimes the hour.

The Astronomical Dial shows the medieval perception of the Universe with the Earth as the center. The blue part of the dial represents the sky above the horizon, the brown part the sky below it. There are Latin words rpresenting east and west written above the horizon, and dawn and twilight below. There is a Zodiac ring. The two clock hands have the signs of the Sun and the Moon.
There are three circles on the dial, showing different times: the outer circle with Schwabacher numerals shows the Old Czech Time, the circle with Roman numbers shows the Central European Time and the inner circle with Arabic numerals shows the “Babylonian Time”. The length of an hour differs there according to the season – it is longer in the summer, shorter in the winter. The Prague Astronomical Clock is the only one in the world able to measure it.






The newest part of the clock is the Calendar Dial. There is the Prague Old Town symbol in the centre. The rotary outer circle describes every single day of the year, and the current date is indicated at the top. There are also medallions with zodiac signs and with pictures depicting every month.

Prague's clock is a popular tourist attraction, so if you find your way there, you should visit it at the Old Town City Hall.

How did Big Ben get its name?

Big Ben is probably the best known clock in the world. The clock itself was started in May 1859 and the striking of the hours followed in July and the quarterly chiming in September.

Westminster had a clock before Big Ben. The old Westminster clock was only a short distance from the present clock tower. First reference to that clock was in 1286 and believed to run for approxiamently 300 years.

Big Ben's chiming plays the Cambridge quarters on four bells and is now known as the "Westminster chime". Big Ben is actually the name for the hour bell that was installed in the tower. During a debate in Parliament, Sir Benjamin Hall, a very robust gentleman, was making a long speech about naming the bell and someone called out  "Call it Big Ben and have done with it!"

There were two Big Ben bells. The first bell was cast in 1856 but was cracked beyond repair after being struck by its hammer during testing. A new bell was cast in 1858. It first chimed in July 1859 and in September it too cracked . The bell was taken out of service for 3 years. During that time the hour strike was played on one of the four quarter bells. The second bell was repaired by chipping out part of the rim around the crack, and the bell given an eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different place. Big Ben has chimed with an odd twang ever since and is still in use today complete with the crack. At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until 1881 when "Great Paul", a 16¾ ton bell was hung in St Paul's Cathedral.

The clock and tower have become a symbol for the United Kingdom and London and has become famous all over the world.