Often, I am asked the question is it worth investing in antique clocks, and, as I was asked again recently, I thought I would write my opinion.

It seems to me that in the times we live in, nothing is a reliable investment. It used to be property, then stocks and shares, and failing that, the bank. Well all of these have had rocky times of late.

What of clocks then?

In my experience, clocks have always increased in price, either in the saleroom or in a dealers shop. Why? Because as a rule, antique clocks have yet to reach their real worth.

I am not talking about the top notch makers like Tompion or Knibb, but the less well known makers, the type any one of us could own. Very valuable clocks, like all art, are subject to the vagaries of the professional investment market, they go up and down according to the latest financial ideas.

More attainable clocks have shown a steady increase in their value, some years more so than others, but I have never seen the value of such clocks go down.

The reason? Well, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Antique clocks, that is those made before Victoria came on the throne, were handmade, and on the whole, very well – they have lasted this long precisely because they were made so well. Who can say that of anything made today. Also, in comparative terms, they cost far more to make then, than they are selling for today. If you tried copying one it would cost perhaps five times its current sale price, to make something similar, unlike a chair or table, which can be made for sometimes less than it would cost to buy an antique.

Does that make it a good investment? I don’t know. What I do know is that you can get a craftsman made object that is possibly 250 to 300 years old, that does exactly what it was doing when it was new. That you can enjoy owning such a piece for the rest of your lifetime, and pass it on to your children, for them to enjoy, when it could still be doing what it was designed to do.

Maybe you are asking the question in the wrong way. Maybe the clock should be asking you if you are a good investment, will you look after it for the rest of your days? After all, if we don’t look after these things and pass them on to others that also will, the world would be a poorer place without them.