Anton Schneider began producing his cuckoo clocks in 1848 in his farmhouse in Schonach, at the heart of the German Black Forest. Today, the Schneider family continues to operate its modern factory, where wood carving is still done by hand. Today's cuckoo clocks use a standardized "regula" movement, of either one-day or eight-days duration. The cost of an individual clock will sometimes depend upon that distinction, but the following details are more important to the determination of price:
- the overall size of the clock, the amount and quality of the clock case carving, whether or not a manual or automatic silence feature is present, and the use of wood versus plastic for dial, hands, or cuckoo bird.
- the addition of a music box, and then the number of different melodies alternating with each passing hour;
- whether there are dancing figures below the cuckoo bird or not;
- whether or not water wheels, figurines, animals, or other parts of the case are set to automatically move to the tune at the hour and/or the half-hour mark. This sort of motion will add cost to the clock;
- of course, a combination of all factors (size over 12", music box, dancing figures and automata) can contribute to a fantastic wall-clock which might cost the better part of 4 figures.
The examples we picture are only a snapshot of what is available. We encourage you to send us inquiries on the features you desire, so that we can find the model which meets your needs.
In all cases, the size parameter indicates the overall height of the clock, without including the hanging weights. Sometimes the clock's photo pictures 8 day weights when a one-day cuckoo is being described, or one-day weights (are smaller) when an 8-day clock is being described. The existence of an "8T" in the model number invariably indicates an eight-day cuckoo clock.
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