History of the Grandfather Clock Today, English longcase clocks that were made during the Golden Age of clock making (from the 1660s to 1730s) are extremely valuable. These early clocks were made in London for the wealthiest nobility, so their craftsmanship is particularly beautiful. Today, English longcase clocks that were made during the Golden Age of clock making

When was the golden age of grandfather clocks?

Clocks became encased with glass to show the pendulum and weights. These clocks, now called grandfather clocks, were called long case clocks, or floor clocks, until the 1880s. The golden age of long case clocks was between 1630 and 1730, and they were first made for royal families and nobles.

Do grandfather clocks have second hands?

Most of them only had one hand, because the average person had no need of knowing the time to the nearest minute, and with a bit of experience you can tell the time to the nearest five minutes on one of these early clocks. By 1730 the vast majority of grandfather clocks had two hands, for the hours and minutes.