Grandfather Clock Repair Shop in Glendora: Perfect Tyme

Perfect Tyme at 100 N. Glendora Avenue, Suite 102, is the San Gabriel Valley clock repair shop built around grandfather clocks, and it will take the movement out and give you an estimate free of charge when you bring a clock in. Posted hours are Tuesday and Wednesday 10 am to 4 pm and Thursday through Saturday 10 am to 2 pm, with after-hours appointments available on request.

The shop's history page says Perfect Tyme was established in 1989, mainly as a grandfather clock service and delivery business, and moved into its present space in historic downtown Glendora in 1993. Owners Scott and Sue Toback are named on the business profile. The homepage adds that over 90 percent of its business comes from referrals and repeat customers, which fits a shop known mostly by word of mouth.

That origin still shapes the work. Tall-case clocks are the specialty, and the site lists the makers its technicians see most: Herschede, Howard Miller, Ridgeway, Sligh, Kieninger, Urgos and Hermle, alongside antique American names such as Ansonia, Seth Thomas, Gilbert, New Haven and Waterbury, and German names like Gustav Becker and Junghans. The combined experience of its clockmakers is put at over 60 years.

The repair process page walks through a full service. Movements are taken apart and cleaned ultrasonically, worn bushings are replaced on a clockmaker's lathe, pivots are polished on a jeweler's lathe, and mainsprings are either replaced or cleaned. Every clock is then tested for timekeeping and chiming before the shop calls you to collect it. The lubricants are synthetic clock oils and greases.

The site also says every repair is done on the premises by its own technicians, and that clocks are not sent out unless you have authorized it. For an heirloom that is reassuring: the clock you hand over stays in the Glendora workshop, and the person who quoted it is close to the person repairing it.

Walk in with a clock and, if a clockmaker is free, the shop will inspect it, remove the mechanism and give you an analysis and estimate at no charge. Coming early on a Tuesday or Wednesday gives you the full six-hour window; Thursday to Saturday the door closes at 2 pm, so a late lunch-hour drop-off can be tight.

Read the policy page before you go. Perfect Tyme says it will not do partial jobs, does not make parts for the trade and will not repair low-grade, poor-quality clocks. If you only want a clock to tick again for the cheapest possible price, this is not the shop. If you want a complete overhaul that will last, the quote will be for exactly that.

Black Forest cuckoo clocks get their own page. The shop says most cuckoos need a complete overhaul somewhere between 8 and 15 years of running, and that a full job includes taking the movement apart, cleaning it, replacing worn bushings, and replacing the bellows and chains if they are worn. Tired bellows are why so many cuckoos call weakly or not at all.

Like the rest of the shop's work, cuckoo restorations come with what the site calls an ironclad 1-year guarantee. Keep the paperwork, and if the clock stops or misbehaves within the year, bring it back. Smaller jobs show up in recent reviews too: one June 2026 customer brought in a vintage tile clock that needed a new quartz movement.

For a grandfather clock, the house call is usually the better option. The grandfather clock page says Perfect Tyme schedules visits in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and parts of Ventura County. A technician removes the movement from the case, inspects it, and either completes routine maintenance on the spot or gives you an estimate if more work is needed.

Free pickup and delivery is offered in some circumstances, but the homepage is clear that grandfather clocks are excluded.

Because the business started in delivery, its packing service is detailed. The packing and moving page says weights, key and crank are sealed in a custom Styrofoam box, the pendulum travels in its own custom cardboard box, and the chime rods and movement are secured inside the case. The shop also unpacks and sets the clock up at its new home.

If you are relocating within Southern California, book the packing before the movers come, not after. A clock that is set up again by the same shop is put back in beat, the pendulum is rehung and the chimes are checked in the new room, which saves a separate service visit a few weeks later.

The shop also sells clocks, and the stock covers cuckoo, grandfather, wall, mantel and novelty pieces. The cuckoo selection is a useful reference: a working German cuckoo on the wall shows you how a healthy bellows call should sound, which helps if you are deciding whether your own clock is worth a full overhaul.

Ask about the movement brand on any new floor clock you are considering. Shops that service Hermle, Kieninger and Urgos movements every week can tell you which one is easiest to maintain over the next twenty years, and at Perfect Tyme that advice comes from the people who will be repairing it.

The shop is in Glendora Village, the walkable old downtown along Glendora Avenue at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. The blocks around it hold independent boutiques, cafes and restaurants with sidewalk seating, which makes it easy to fill the time while a clockmaker looks inside your movement during the estimate.

For a longer break, the foothills are minutes away by car. Big Dalton Canyon and the trails above the city give wide views back over the valley, and a short drive along Route 66 through Glendora leads to more vintage diners and shops. Plan the clock drop-off first, since the shop closes at 2 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Address: 100 N. Glendora Avenue, Suite 102, Glendora, CA 91741, in Glendora Village. Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 10 am to 4 pm; Thursday to Saturday 10 am to 2 pm; closed Sunday and Monday; after-hours appointments on request. In-shop inspection and estimate are free when a clockmaker is available.

Repairs carry a 1-year guarantee. No partial jobs or repairs on low-grade clocks. House calls cover Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and parts of Ventura counties. Free pickup and delivery in some cases, not for grandfather clocks. Bring the pendulum, key and weights wrapped separately.