About Us
Our Beginnings
Jeff Savage (that's me) and Ryan Polite co-founded AntiqueClocksPriceGuide.com in 1999. Together, we continue to maintain and manage the site, adding clocks and other content, fixing technical problems, answering email from visitors and subscribers and a lot more.
Together we began to develop a web-based reference to help users find out the approximate "real world" market values for their antique clocks. We wanted to serve antique clock dealers, collectors and professional appraisers who often needed to determine values for a wide range of antique clocks in the course of their business or pursuit of their hobby. We also wanted to help members of the general public who may have inherited or otherwise acquired an old clock or two and who wanted to know something about its history or value.
We designed our service to be more than just another "price guide" similar to the very few printed guides available in bookstores. The printed guides had limited descriptions and very few illustrations, making it difficult to identify their makers or models names. The sources for the values given were mostly unidentified, leaving the reader with uncertainty as to whether the values were only the author's "guesstimate" or whether they were actual retail or auction prices.
Our Goals
It was important that our guide would be more of a "real world" price report of what dealers and collectors had actually paid for the clocks shown on our site. The sources would be prices realized for clocks sold at auction, mostly purchased by knowledgeable dealers and collectors. We wanted to provide our subscribers with other important information and features as well, including:
• the source of each value (the date and place the auction was held, with a link to the auction house's website
• the pre-sale estimate as well as the final selling price (if the clock was sold.)
• the complete description of the clock as it appeared in the auction catalog
• at least one color photograph of the clock, with additional detail photos if available
• an interactive database searchable by keyword, by maker's name, by model name (if available), by clock type and by country of origin.
• information that helps subscribers determine the approximate age of their clock
* information that helps identify the clock's maker or country of origin
• an illustrated glossary of clock types
• the history of some major clockmakers and manufacturers
• tips on buying and selling clocks
• activity dates for more than 10,000 clockmakers
• a bibliography and links to additional resources
Our Results
We began in the year 1999 with a listing of 300 clocks and have added a minimum of 2,000 clocks each year since then. Our archive now contains listings of more than 21,000 clocks and 40,000 color photos.
Jeff Savage (that's me) and Ryan Polite co-founded AntiqueClocksPriceGuide.com in 1999. Together, we continue to maintain and manage the site, adding clocks and other content, fixing technical problems, answering email from visitors and subscribers and a lot more.
I had a 25 year career as a professional appraiser of fine art,
antiques, silver and other household contents. Prior to the Internet
I had found it difficult to get reliable, up to date values for antique
clocks that I sometimes needed to appraise. Since there was no
online database of clock values I decided to create one that I could
use in my appraisal business and share with others.
Ryan is a highly skilled IT professional whose specialty is designing dynamic, database-driven websites. Educated at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, he combines more than 30 years of computer knowledge with a passion for the field of interactive electronic entertainment and emerging technologies. In 1999 Ryan sold his partnership in Rhythm Net Design Group, a Los Angeles multimedia design firm, and relocated to northern California to join me in founding eCollectica Publishing.Together we began to develop a web-based reference to help users find out the approximate "real world" market values for their antique clocks. We wanted to serve antique clock dealers, collectors and professional appraisers who often needed to determine values for a wide range of antique clocks in the course of their business or pursuit of their hobby. We also wanted to help members of the general public who may have inherited or otherwise acquired an old clock or two and who wanted to know something about its history or value.
We designed our service to be more than just another "price guide" similar to the very few printed guides available in bookstores. The printed guides had limited descriptions and very few illustrations, making it difficult to identify their makers or models names. The sources for the values given were mostly unidentified, leaving the reader with uncertainty as to whether the values were only the author's "guesstimate" or whether they were actual retail or auction prices.
Our Goals
It was important that our guide would be more of a "real world" price report of what dealers and collectors had actually paid for the clocks shown on our site. The sources would be prices realized for clocks sold at auction, mostly purchased by knowledgeable dealers and collectors. We wanted to provide our subscribers with other important information and features as well, including:
• the source of each value (the date and place the auction was held, with a link to the auction house's website
• the pre-sale estimate as well as the final selling price (if the clock was sold.)
• the complete description of the clock as it appeared in the auction catalog
• at least one color photograph of the clock, with additional detail photos if available
• an interactive database searchable by keyword, by maker's name, by model name (if available), by clock type and by country of origin.
• information that helps subscribers determine the approximate age of their clock
* information that helps identify the clock's maker or country of origin
• an illustrated glossary of clock types
• the history of some major clockmakers and manufacturers
• tips on buying and selling clocks
• activity dates for more than 10,000 clockmakers
• a bibliography and links to additional resources
Our Results
We began in the year 1999 with a listing of 300 clocks and have added a minimum of 2,000 clocks each year since then. Our archive now contains listings of more than 21,000 clocks and 40,000 color photos.