07/11/2025
https://www.woodtv.com/news/ottawa-county/unsustainable-to-continue-howard-miller-to-close/
This is a very sad day, on more humanity-based levels than what first might be realized, as I will explain. First, the announcement of Howard Miller deciding to close affects two other businesses. Howard Miller (of Zealand, Michigan) also owns Ridgeway clocks (of Ridgeway, Virginia), AND the German clock making company Keininger. But the philosophical point I want to convey is further down.
As far as I know, Howard Miller and Ridgeway were the only American clock companies left. There used to be so, so many, such as Seth Thomas, Sligh, Colonial, Trend, Herschedes, Daneker, New England Clock Co, Ansonia, Waterbury, Ingraham, Sessions, Gilbert, J.C. Brown, Ithaca, and countless others. But one by one they were all beaten by something, whether it was pricing and competition, factory fires, and now, perhaps ironically, beaten by time itself. There is no market anymore for an authentic clock making company in today's world.
Keininger (owned by Howard Miller) is the highest quality, mass-produced German clock movement currently available. The only other movement makers left are Hermle and Urgos, which are a pale comparison and whose quality control has been in serious trouble. Additionally, Hermle owns Urgos so you can see the trouble looming there.
BUT, this news of Howard Miller ceasing it's operations is very sad and means something so much more than meets the eye. This is another item of a long list of human inventions that are forever now stuck in permanent peril. What you might not understand is the age of quality craftsmanship has long died, and this is another nail in the coffin.
I've been trying to explain this to more and more people lately. We as humans have completely lost our ability to manufacture amazing feats of quality engineering. You might not understand what I mean at first when we obviously have technological engineering breakthroughs all the time, as seen in current automotives and electronics. But if you've seen many clocks or other intricate equipment from the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, you will notice how many of these pieces are all hand made, and even so, are made to a higher quality standard than the machine made abilities of the 1900s and today. Look at any instrument from those time periods, specifically French equipment, and you will be amazed at the fine level of machining craftsmanship. When machinery became widespread during the industrial revolution, the first goal was to use it to make even better quality items and that can be seen in most items of the late 1800s.
Even though we might have a better *technological ability* to make the same level of quality (or better) today, we have chosen NOT TO for over 100 years. At some point during the industrial revolution, the goal of manufacturing had shifted. The point no longer became to use current manufacturing abilities to make the *BEST* product possible, but to make the cheapest product possible. And that has remained the goal of most manufacturing companies, and thus general quality of all areas of production has steadily decreased ever since. Yes, technology may have improved many manufacturing abilities, BUT was the last watch you bought a Swiss-made, ruby-jeweled, self-winding wrist watch that your father, or grandfather, or great grandfather might have had, or was it maybe a cheap, throwaway Timex or maybe an expensive smart watch with absolutely no moving mechanical parts at all? The age of amazing machinery craftsmanship continues to end.
We will never see quality machining craftsmanship in our homes again. It is too expensive to take the time to make those creations again. Therefore, the existence of the grandfather clock, or any mechanical clock, or Regina music box, or Wurlitzer band organs, all that remains of these items and anything like them, is all that will ever be... Because of skilled labor rates, cost of supplies, rising costs of living, general public interest, etc, we will NEVER be making those grade of items EVER again in human history.
So the news of Howard Miller closing means that anyone who has a real mechanical grandfather clock is now holding on to something that can no longer be replaced.
