Nontraditional Home Design and Decorating Ideas: Cuckoo Clocks Add Elegance and Value

Owning your own cuckoo clock is a great conversation piece and depending on it's history, can also be worth a great deal of value. There are several styles of cuckoo clocks available.

The largest is the Grandfather clock which is a tall clock with a long and heavy pendulum swaying back and forth. Grandfather clocks are usually about 6 feet in height. There are also the wall clocks which come in many sizes and styles. Most notably are the wall clocks which are usually around 10-15 inches in height and also have the heavy, pine shaped weights underneath that allow for their operation.

Regardless of where they are placed, whether it be in the kitchen or the living room, these beautiful clocks never fail to offer a warm and friendly feeling to both friends and family. The prices will vary depending upon many factors, but a new simple cuckoo clock can range anywhere from $150 to several thousands of dollars.

The exact date of when cuckoo clocks first made their appearance is a mystery. It is believed that cuckoo clocks date back to around 1730 in the Black Forest area of Germany. In 1629, many years before the art of clock making was established in Black Forest, an Augsburg nobleman named Philipp Hainhofer, was the first person known to pen the true description of a cuckoo clock.

Many believe that the cuckoo clock is much older than the clocks that were being made in the Black Forest area and also believe that the idea of placing a cuckoo bird inside of a clock did not originate in Black Forest as previously thought.
However, it was in 1750 when Franz Anton Ketterer from Schonwald, a village in Black Forest, was able to reproduce the exact cuckoo birds song by using bellows to produce two different notes.

The history of measuring time began several thousand years ago and the word "clock" didn't appear until around the 14th century. History shows that there were many different types of clocks using different methods for measuring time and history further shows us that alarm clocks started in the early 1620's, when the use of household clocks came into use. Some of these clocks were equipped with an alarm mechanism, hence, the alarm clock.

The older cuckoo clocks are pendulum clocks that strike every hour on the hour, using small bellows and whistles and striking a gong. Most are generally driven by weight and only a few are spring driven. The one day clocks require rewinding once a day and will run for approximately 30 hours. The eight day clocks, equipped with heavier weights, require rewinding once a week to maintain proper operation and will run steadily for at least seven days. The rewinding of both clock types is accomplished by pulling the weights back up to the top position again. These wonderful clocks include a small bird positioned inside the clock that chirps out the time, instead of using a chime.

In the late twentieth century, cuckoo clocks entered into the digital age. Manufacturers began equipping some clocks with quartz clocks that have the ability to play many different styled tunes. Instead of being mechanically driven like their counterparts before them, the quartz clocks are battery powered.

Because of the exterior wood casing being the clocks' primary feature, manufacturers have created and developed their own styles of chalets and forest scenes for the woodwork. The hand crafted clocks with 'provenance' ( traceable history), are most sought after by collectors, however, many antique hunters still search for the factory made clocks as well.

New and used cuckoo clocks can be found and purchased both on and offline.