Antique British clock valuation services
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Antique Clocks
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What is my lantern clock worth? How can I get my antique clock valued? How can I tell if a clock is genuine? Who made my longcase clock? If you are asking yourself questions like these, you have come to the right place.
If you wish to find out more about your clock I can help.
My qualifications for doing this consist of over 50 years' experience (since 1966) in buying, selling and valuing clocks. In that time as a former professional genealogist I have undertaken my own original researches in ancient records into clocks and clockmakers. The results are published in some thirty reference books, many now being standard textbooks for collectors, dealers and museums.
Many antique clocks have been altered or neglected yet can still be very valuable. Identification is vital. Age and rarity is everything. In recent years I have discovered clocks that their owners thought worthless, but turned out to be amongst the oldest in existence. Could yours be another?
My wife and I were winners in 2001 of the BACA award for excellence based among other things on depth of knowledge of the subject. I was also presented with the exceptionally unusual award of an Honorary Fellowship of the British Horological Institute for services to horology.
Initial enquiries by email, please, using the contact form. I apologize for this inconvenience but it prevents spam for me and for you. I will respond, usually within hours, giving my new email address.
Your insurance company will insist on a written valuation by a recognised professional valuer with particular expertise in clocks, and this is what I can supply.
I can value your clock for you, giving its insurance value (on a letter-heading by email) or its selling value (on a plain email) - depending on which one you want. The two are very different. The insurance valuation includes a brief description, the clock's age and condition, and the maker's working dates if known.
THE SET FEE FOR THIS VALUATION IS £100 STERLING OR $150 US, OR 130 EUROS (regardless of value).
If you are thinking of buying a particular clock, whether from a private source, a dealer, an auction, and especially via the internet, you may have concerns about its age, its genuineness, its condition or its value. You certainly should have. Is it genuine, a fake, overpriced? Or do you perhaps want some advice about bargaining? I can help you with any queries you have about it if you can send me detailed images. Send me an email to discuss how to go about this. Absolute confidentiality essential.
THE SET FEE FOR THIS INFORMATION IS £100 STERLING OR $150 US, OR 130 EUROS (regardless of value).
If you want to know the age of your clock, whether it is genuine, a full appraisal, any alterations as well as the maker's known details, and any other information of a historical nature that we can uncover, then I can provide that. If the maker is unknown, or little-known, then I will undertake research in a variety of genealogical records in an attempt to track him down. The articles on this website will give an idea of the kind of research I undertake. I may need to spend several days on this and it could be two or three weeks before I can report in full.
THE SET FEE FOR THIS RESEARCH IS £200 STERLING OR $300 US, OR 260 EUROS (regardless of value).
If it merits it, I can write an article for publication, probably in Clocks magazine, provided the editor finds it acceptable. Provided also that you (or maybe I) can supply pictures of decent quality.
FEE £400.
Contact me in the first instance via our contact page and I will respond within hours giving my email address, to which you can send me photographs of your clock. You cannot send attachments via the contact box.
For a longcase clock I would need to see a photograph of the whole clock plus a head-and-shoulders such as will reveal detail of the dial and hood. For most purposes this is adequate, but to investigate genuineness I may need images of the mechanics too. For other clocks three or four photographs are usually enough. If I need more I will come back to you.
Just send initially no more than four or five images maximum. Send by email as single jpeg attachments of reasonable size (about 1 MB each). If I need more I will specify what. Please do not email photographs in 'packages', 'boxes', 'parcels', 'photoclubs' or bizarre systems I would need to enrol into.
Payment from UK clients in English pounds may be by cheque made out to 'B. Loomes' drawn on a UK branch of any bank. Or cash in the form of banknotes by signed-for post.
For those who prefer direct bank transfer I will send you bank account details on request.
Post your cheque to: Brian Loomes, Highlands, Ripon Road, Pateley Bridge, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG3 5NL, England.
WE REGRET WE CANNOT TAKE PAYMENT BY ANY FORM OF DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD, PAYPAL OR WESTERN UNION or any other method, though I am aware they exist.
"I remain most grateful for all the research which you have so far undertaken. I shall print out the details about the clock and put it with the photographs in a nice folder which will accompany the clock wherever it eventually goes. Thank you again for all the useful and helpful information." Bangkok.
"Thank you again for all your help and advice – it has been invaluable.
Many thanks Brian – your comments, advice and the article are much appreciated." Newcastle on Tyne, UK.
"Hope you had a good weekend - we certainly did thanks to you!!!!! … - so will be in contact with you again asking for your advice and help." Staffordshire, UK.
"Thank you very much indeed: now I like it even more." Somerset.
"Just read your report, beautifully written. I feel so honoured to have your report and of course to own such a clock. Warm Regards and thanks." London.
"Thank you Brian. Very informative. I most certainly will look to engage your services further. It's important to truly understand the monetary value, though my interests lie in the beauty and history." Florida.
"Thanks for your swift and helpful response, you certainly know your stuff. I wasn't too hopeful it was worth a fortune and the investigation is interesting nonetheless." London.
"Well, thank you Brian fascinating stuff. I certainly appreciate your considerable effort in this. I am delighted that you are so interested in my clock and its maker and that I seem to have opened a new line of research." London.
"Many thanks for all the information you have sent through today - all very helpful." North Yorkshire.
"I would like to say what a brilliant write up. Your known facts and analysis of the history of the clockmaker and excellent research of the probable origin potted history and detective work has brought me great pleasure.
I can only thank you for all of your work and research involved with your findings of which I will definitely keep all the information with the clock. I will now read and digest more thoroughly." Middlesex.
"Thank you also for the information you have sent so far - most interesting indeed, and clarified some misconceptions we had … Thank you, Brian, for your extensive reply." Australia.
"Thank you for your truly amazing report on my Lantern clock. I enjoy doing a bit of research myself when time permits and by now I had figured out that you are the best of the best in this field. However, I still had no expectation that the quality of your work would rise to this pinnacle of extraordinary excellence. I feel fortunate and privileged to have had this opportunity to interact with and learn from you.
Thanks very much for digging so deep to find out so much about the maker, as well as for your extensive and highly detailed analysis and evaluation of the clock. This has been a forever memorable experience for which I am very grateful to you. Thank you very much for forwarding all of this great information to me. I am most appreciative and find it quite fascinating … Back to the lantern clock story. Sincere thanks again for all of this wonderful information. I will treasure it." Maryland, USA.
"This all seems to have worked out amazingly well and so quickly concluded. Thank you very much indeed for your greatly appreciated guidance … I am extremely pleased with the end result. Thank you once again for all of your help with this project." Norfolk, UK.
"Absolutely fascinating, your comprehensive analysis has transported me back to London circa 1700. Thank You." New Jersey, USA.
"I wanted to thank you for the wonderful information you've shared on your site for years… Recently I have benefitted from your general articles on brass lantern clocks… Your 21st century edition book is never far from my hand when I'm looking up a watch or clockmaker. Thank you for that, too!" Ottawa, Canada.
"Thanks for all your efforts, I really appreciate it. I briefly read through everything as I was getting ready for work this morning. I can't wait to sit down and look at everything in great depth… I found your research to be quite interesting and enjoyable and the clock will always remain quite the conversation piece in our home. I'm glad I paid you to do the research because I didn't think the clock shop where I purchased it was very knowledgeable about its background. I just ordered your book, 'Painted Dial Clocks', on Amazon. I'm hoping to buy a bigger house in the next couple of years which means more room for clocks. Hopefully I gain a bit more knowledge before purchasing another old tall case clock. I will consult with you too prior if it's a high ticket item." Florida, USA.
"Thank you for your frank and honest reply." Spain.
"A word of thanks for the expert work you have done researching W. S. Ray and the Ray family. The crowning glory is the excellent article in Clocks magazine. I shall keep this safe for future guardians of the family clock. Please feel free to include the article on your website. Once again, many thanks." East Sussex, UK.
"Yes we saw your really informative article on your web site. You must have come across virtually every Sellwood clock in existence. Many thanks for your valuation letter. I have a copy of your book 'Lantern Clocks and Their Makers'. It is a fascinating work and I am full of admiration for your encyclopaedic knowledge and wonderful presentation of the subject. This is a subject I can return to and I am looking forward to learning more." Norfolk, UK.
"What a magnificent piece of research! You are a wizard. … Many, many thanks." East Sussex, UK.
" … cannot tell you how much we appreciate your help … a note to say how greatly we appreciate all your work and thoughtfulness in every detail, how readily you answer our multitude of questions and are so wonderfully generous with the information you provide. You have our heartfelt thanks!" Columbia, Pennsylvania.
"Thanks, Brian. Much appreciated." Bristol, UK.
"I am delighted with your opinion and estimate for insurance purposes. I was a little concerned that the clock may not be right. I am thrilled with your report, it makes the clock much more interesting and although not by one of the better known makers and of that higher standard it appeals to me very much for its simple honesty. Again thank you very much for your research and report." Middlesex, UK.
"Thank you for your results - fascinating." Sussex.
"Thank you very much for these well researched reports. We hadn't known very much about the clock and were very pleased with all the history and information you were able to provide. We also appreciated your opinion of the 'fine quality' movement and the excellent condition of the case. We were perhaps a little disappointed in the valuation but also realize that there is not currently much demand for such clocks. We will probably follow your recommendation and keep it for now - and appreciate it more than ever." Washington, DC, USA.
"Thank you so much for your expertise. Although I'm a bit disappointed that it has little value, it's good to know its history. Thanks again." Wisconsin, USA
"Thanks for having a look. Your clock books are a genuine treasure in my library. The passion and depth is clear. An achievement to be very proud of. Thank you for being such a good educator!" Pennsylvania, USA.
"A very nice and helpful write up." Virginia, USA.
"Thank you so much for sending this wonderful article. I will keep it with the clock to authenticate it for my family. It is wonderful to have an in depth look at this clock that I enjoy, and have it's history confirmed by an expert. It is a beautiful article filled with perceptions of the time and interesting facts about the clock maker and his life.
Thank you again for this association, and I hope you continue to keep us informed about the wonderful history of these clocks.
I appreciate you." Arkansas, USA.
"Thank you so much for all the wonderful information you provided. The history of the clockmaker is fascinating and I would think he would be proud that his work is still here and giving pleasure every day to its owner. Again, I appreciate your expertise and the detailed information you sent." Arkansas, USA
"Very many thanks for the work you are doing in researching my clock. It is lovely to be finding out about its history after so long. I really appreciate all you are doing. Many thanks for the information you sent. It is good to know that the clock is genuinely old and also to have learnt about its maker, very interesting. I have appreciated the close attention you have paid to my request. When the clock strikes now it certainly means much more to me." Lancashire, UK.
"Great reading and thank you for all your hard work. …Again many thanks for your work." Georgia, USA
"Many thanks for your swift and thorough response." Surrey, UK.
"Thank you for your expert analysis. While it is disappointing to learn that it is not authentic, we still love our clock" Minnesota, USA.
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