Roger Lascelles

It's over 21 years since Roger Lascelles came up with the idea to make clocks that follow the prevailing trends in interior design yet have a definite link to the past.

Back in 1986, Roger was an antique dealer specialising in clocks, most of which were being exported to the USA and never likely to return to the UK. This prompted him to start photographing the pretty dial designs on grandfather clocks, printing them and then turning them into clocks with quartz movements to sell in his London antique shop. People liked the idea and with the help of his wife and three staff they set up a small workshop later that year to make clocks with an antique feel. In 1989 he even won a BBC radio award for small businesses who successfully take an idea to reality.

Now over 21 years later the company is based in a 12,000 sqft factory in North-West London with a team of designers, assemblers and office staff. We are by far the UK's largest clock manufacturer and produce some 100,000 clocks each year.

We constantly come out with new designs to keep abreast of current trends and regularly make visits to antique fairs and flea markets to obtain ideas.

For example, a rusty, but charming old tin clock from the 1930's bought in a Paris flea market has been the inspiration for many of the clocks we design with that “shabby chic” look so much in vogue today.

Take a close look and see how we've used the same type of colours and graphics on many of our wall clocks, which have that authentic look of a French bistro advertising clock of the 1930's. Some of them we even make in tin like the originals.

All the artwork you see on our clocks is our own creation, and most of the hands are individually aged and stained to suit the dials. Nearly all other clock manufacturers use thin and lightweight aluminium hands. We use qualilty brass hands made here in the UK on nearly all our clocks. It's this attention to detail that gives our clocks their distinctive look and sets us apart from others.

Our smallness, as a family-run company, makes us particularly responsive to our customers and we all enjoy making clocks, which many people genuinely take a pleasure in owning.

http://www.rogerlascelles.com/