Greetings!
We're glad you stopped by to visit our site! Hope you find just what you're looking for, or will let us know so we can find it for you! While you're at it, be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page... most people find it helpful or at least entertaining... you can decide for yourself!
Often, when we meet new "clock people" or "musicbox" people, ultimately, the conversation turns to "Tell me a little about yourself," or "How did you get into this Clock Guy business, anyway?" The latter is a crazy story, really, of a re-kindled hobby run amuk. But that seems not unlike others we have heard of in the past.
So here's a little about us...
We live in a rural area of northern San Diego County (Vista) with a pair of Giant Schnauzers, (Gershwin and Brubeck - here with daughter Irene) - (and be sure to check this one), and an Alexandrine Parrot named "Joplin" (as in 'Scott', not 'Janice', thank you very much)! Our home is in an idyllic setting (1) (2) (3) with giant oaks and a creek in the back yard; a perfect place for Margie's tropical plants and a quick dip in the summer. What a relief it is to be away from the hustle and bustle of Southern California.
The valley where we live has its own microclimate especially suited to growing tropical plants. There are many commercial nursery growing grounds near our home, ranging from cactus to roses to orchids and other tropicals.
Here is our Night-Blooming Cereus in August 2006. It blooms for one night only and gives off the most incredible scent you ever smelled. This year we were blessed with four blooms on two nights, for one of which the neighbors gathered at about 9pm to watch the plant in all its glory. These photos were taken with our pocket-sized Nikon 5200. Click the photo to see the high-resolution version.
Family: Three of our five adult "kids" are married and we have five grandchildren (3 here – the big lug in the tub is not one of them!), including Miranda, who was born in December, 1999, "WildMan" Nicholas, who was born in September 2001, Mr. Jake, who was born in June 2003, and Vladimir Peter ("Vlady"), who was born May 24, 2006. This is a better picture of our crew. Our "adopted" Russian daughter, Irene had her first baby, "Leeza" on June 28, 2005! Miranda and Vlady live in OH, and Leeza in MD.
Here are photos of most of the family and with the grandkids taken Thanksgiving week 2006. The photo is missing son David, who is a professional translator in Spain and his gal Noe. Also missing are Irene and her family in Baltimore.
Careers... and all that stuff...
Richard's pre-Clock Guy background was in sales and marketing management in the high technology industries, primarily software.
Margie is a gifted, two-career lady. She is the principal of an elementary school in a fairly tough neighborhood. Her devotion to kids, along with a master's degree in reading and advanced training in reading techniques, brain theory, phonemic awareness and visualizing/verbalizing has equipped her to make a real difference.
This wonderful wife of mine was also born with an incredible gift for music, refined at the keyboard for many years. She has two CDs to her credit. "Reflective Meditiations" is quiet, meditative Christian music—traditional and contemporary hymns, etc. My favorite on that recording is an arrangement that intertwines "Jesus Loves Me" with Clair de Lune.
The second CD, "Love Begotten" is Christmas music, pipe organ and brass, much of which was arranged especially for the recording. This was a joint project with the San Diego Chamber Brass Quintet a group of symphony musicians.
One of these days we'll figure out how to capture and place a sound sample on this webpage, then you can hear for youself! In the meantime, if you're interested in purchasing a copy of either recording, please send us a note for details. Music profits have gone to childrens' ministries, including an orphanage in Tijuana.
Exercising our faith, together we attend a local Christian church. Margie also occasionally substitutes for vacationing organists in other churches.
Clocks... and all that stuff
In 1971 or thereabouts Richard "slipped out the back, Jack", purchased "our" first antique clock, and brought it home. Like most collectors, it was nothing special, but apparently it was to me, even though I can't now remember which one it was (age is definitely the first through tenth thing to go)! Some 30-40 others appeared that following year. Again, nothing special.
In 1972, making plans to build a new home, we decided that a tubular tallcase clock would look great in the entryway. A search turned up a magnificent American-cased eight-foot clock in mahogany crotchwood that takes four strong men to move... sans weights and tubes. The nine-tube movement is of German origin. The purchase necessitated liquidation of most of the typical “beginner’s” clocks in this fledgling collection in order to pay for the new tallcase—really a blessing in disguise. Today the clock graces a high wall in our Vista entry foyer.
During the kid-raising years we were "non-Vietnamese boat people"! Most of our free time—and certainly all of our money—went to support a sailing habit and cruises in the waters of Southern California with our friends from San Diego Yacht Club. Thus, not much time (or funds for clocks). That was okay... back then. |
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So, back to the story, and moving forward a few years with adult kids out of the house and the "hole in the water into which you pour money" long gone: In 1997 it became clear that an elderly aunt was suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer's, an insidious disease, to say the least. So, we divided responsibilities: My brother was in charge of money, my mother was in charge of worrying, and I was in charge of schlepping! Among the items to be liquidated as we prepared to move her to a fulltime care facility was a beautiful champlevé clock and matching urns, signed "Tiffany". Some local clock dealers thought they might get fifteen hundred dollars or so for the clock on a great day in their shop, and were prepared to pay less than half that amount for the set... all seemed to be in the same ballpark; all seemed ridiculously low to me.
We hired an appraiser to assist us with valuation of a Boulle table and some other pieces. We had the opportunity/pleasure of visiting with her and her husband at their Rancho Santa Fe, CA estate. What an experience. It was like walking into a museum of French art history... from the (some signed Boulle) furniture to the paintings, porcelains, sculptures and clocks. This lady was a specialist in French antiquities. Near the end of the fact-gathering session for her research we told her about the Tiffany piece, which was not in the car with us.
The next morning she was on our doorstep wanting the clock and urns. She happily paid $3,000 for the clock. That small event sparked the desire to work with people selling clocks... simple as that. One thing led to another, and, voila, here we are.
Thanks for taking time to get to know us a bit. We look forward to getting to know you, too. Give us a call if you want to talk about clocks or mechanical music. The cell phone is almost always availble at 760-604-0262.
Questions about our business? Enjoy our FAQ section.
--=Richard
& Gal (!)
