Dolls come in all shapes and sizes and have done since time immemorial. There are comic book character dolls, toy dolls, movie character dolls such as those based on some of the Twilight series and movie cast, and there are cartoon type dolls. There are antique dolls which tend to have high monetary value and there are collectible dolls too.

The doll has existed for a long time through history and are still popular even in the computer age, as collectibles and as toys. First dolls were around in ancient times and were made from any of the following: wood, clay or animal fur.

One has been found that dates way back to prehistoric times. Imagine dolls being around when sabre tooth tigers were roaming the countryside! There are also remains of many dolls stretching back to Roman times and Ancient Greek and Egyptian days.

Then, in the 16th century dolls were popularly made from clay and from wood. In the 18th century they graduated to being made from wax and paper mache. Porcelain became the material of choice and tends to have been used for higher value dolls.

These days plastics and porcelain is most popular and dolls are often based on movie characters, such as those mentioned – the Twilight movie characters. But you can find a doll to suit almost any occasion.

Barbie dolls are perhaps the most well-known dolls. These were introduced in the late 1950’s and are still highly popular. They were at first produced for young girls but now all age groups collect them.

Dolls are particularly popular as collectibles. It may be a porcelain collection or it may be a Barbie collection – any collection is valuable to its owner for various reasons.

Whatever you purchase dolls for, they will continue to be loved and treasured by young and old alike.

Recently I have had more and more requests on how to do a self-appraisal of a grandfather clock. To remove some of the mystique, I have included in this article some of the questions that an appraiser will cover. This will not provide you an accurate price but should help with a ball park figure.

What is the overall look and conditions of the grandfather clock?

First you will need to step back and take the position of a critical buyer in mind. So let?s look at the grandfather clock from the buyer?s perspective. To do this let?s work from a check list and rate each of the points we will cover. Let us start by looking at the function and then the overall look and condition.

Each of the following checks will be a zero through five with five being perfect ? just like it came from the grandfather clock factory. But be honest; remember you are thinking like the buyer. But don?t be over-critical either and downgrade a great clock. Just be fair and honest. It is best to go with the first thought you have in mind and don?t dwell on a question. So with that in mind let?s get started. On a blank piece of notebook paper on the left hand side write the numbers 1 ? 20 or you can download for a more detailed pdf at the link below.

Doing a grandfather clock evaluation.

1. Is the clock running? (5 ? yes otherwise 0)

2. Is the clock keeping accurate time over a twenty-four hour period? (Five is perfect time)

3. Are the chimes or bell working and on time? (5 ? yes otherwise 0)

4. If the clock has a moon phase dial and it works give yourself a five, otherwise a zero.

5. Rate the look of the weights (bright and clean) from zero to five.

6. Does the clock face look good and well cared for?

7. Does the pendulum look good (without stains or damage) and well maintained?

8. Rate the pendulum swing (is it smooth or bumpy) from zero to five.

9. Are the clock hands original, straight and bright?

10. Are the correct and original hands (may take some research) installed for the second, minute and hour hand?

11. Has the grandfather clock been rebuilt every 10 years? (0-no to five if rebuilt in the last year)

12. Has the clock been re-oiled every 6 months?

13. Is all the glass present and undamaged (discoloration and bubbles are ok)?

14. If the glass is the correct age for the clock, give yourself a five otherwise a zero.

15. Are all parts present (keys, exterior parts (wood or metal))?

16. Rate the condition of the grandfather clock case.

17. Rate the cabinet damage (perfect = 5).

18. Do all the sliding doors (glass/wood) and hinged doors work properly?

19. Does the cabinet have the original finish and is it in good condition?

20. Does it have major color variations (one side exposed to the sun for years)?

Let?s total it up.

Now add up all the numbers you recorded and get a total. If the total is near 100 you are saying you have a near pristine grandfather clock. If you have a total of twenty or less I would have to assume the grandfather clock is broken in pieces and in a box ? otherwise you are grading it way to low. A normal value of a running grandfather clock with modest wear and tear would be somewhere around eighty, even a clock that is running with cabinet damage would still are around sixty of better. A clock that is over 100 years old will most likely have some damage (this sometimes adds character) such as dings and may have been repaired more than once.

OK – now we have a gauge, although not complete. Next you will need to know the time period the clock was built. This may require some research, but I will give you some resources a little later on. We will now need to find out what your clock last sold for or one that is very close in style, movement used and the time it was originally produced.

Now let?s find the sell price.

With all this information in hand you can gauge the value of the grandfather clock in question. I suggest that you sign-up for a subscription at Antique Clock Price Guide (dot) com and look up your grandfather clock. If you feel it has a great history then add 10-20% to the current selling price. If it is damaged, doesn?t run or looks like it?s been through the war you should reduce the price 20-25% percent from the last selling price, if the last one sold was in good condition.

I will add that if you feel that you may have buffered the price in your favor a little too much then knock off 10% before listing it.

Some final thoughts.

Two areas you need to address are how frequently the clock was serviced and how special or rare the grandfather clock is. If the clock was kept serviced but is not all that special and is over 100 years old it will still get a very good price. If the clock has been improperly serviced or has been poorly repaired and is in need of work it is still a clock that has value and someone may want to bring it back up to working condition. But the cost for repairs on an older grandfather clock may be very expensive. Don?t give up hope before you find out by doing the proper research on this grandfather clock. You may have a jewel in the rough.

Some resources to help you:

A more detailed Evaluation guide in PDF format at my website called Eval.pdf.

For last sold price check out: AntiqueClockPriceGuide.com