今でこそネルソンのボールクロックや渡辺力デザインの掛け時計などがインテリアショップに並ぶがこれらのモダン掛け時計の歴史を知る人は少ない。勿論、僕もその一人である。ミッドセンチュリーのとあるお店で当然ハーマンミラーの時計だと思ってよく見てみると「Howard Miller」と刻印されている。訊いてみると「Heman Millerと関係あるみたいですよ」と。それ以上は彼も知らないようだ。家に帰って調べてみると関係無いどころか「ハーマンの息子であるハワード君が作った会社じゃない」と驚いた。もっと驚いたのがネルソンのボールクロックもハワードから元々出されていた（現在、ハワードミラー名義で限定復刻 ）しジョージ・ネルソンもかなりデザインを提供していたようでまさにまだその当時のヴィンテージが手に入ることだった。
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特徴的なヴィンテージ時計は全面がウッドでシンプルな丸い掛け時計だったり、木の皮が縁取りに巻かれた四角い掛け時計など。これが不思議と和にも北欧にも勿論ミッドセンチュリーにも馴染む万能デザインなのである。これらを見るにつけ「なるほど渡辺力デザインの時計もルーツはここか」と変に納得してしまうのである。現在も時計は勿論、ワインキャビネットなど総合ホームブランドで存続している。
以下にハワードミラー社の歴史を掲文する。
Incomparable workmanship. Unsurpassed quality. A quest for perfection. It’s what Howard C. Miller insisted on when he founded the company back in 1926, at the age of 21.Even then, Howard Miller understood the need to create products that would be steeped in quality and value. He expected nothing less than the best. And it was only under those strict conditions that he allowed his name to grace every clock manufactured at our sprawling facility in Zeeland, Michigan.
Howard Miller was schooled in the fine art of clockmaking by his father, Herman, in the Black Forest region of Germany. Howard developed into a visionary whose keen sense of innovation spawned a tradition of excellence that has been uncompromised through three generations.
While the early years focused on the manufacture of chiming wall and mantel clocks, Howard Miller also produced trend-setting avant garde clocks that stand today in collectors' galleries. During World War II, Howard Miller joined forces with the Ford Motor Co. to produce anti-aircraft covers. In the 1960s, the company turned its attention to grandfather clocks, eventually earning the company the title of "World's Largest Grandfather Clock Manufacturer."
In 1989, Howard Miller began creating collectors cabinets with the same attention to detail and craftsmanship inherent in their clockmaking. Fashioned from glass and hardwoods, the cabinets are ideal for displaying heirlooms, plates, glassware and other collectibles.
As part of the company's continuing effort to bring customers only the best in handcrafted products, Howard Miller recently acquired three companies: The Hekman Furniture Company produces a strong cadre of carefully sculpted hardwood pieces that range from 18th and 19th Century reproductions, to contemporary products featuring fine metals and exotic woods. The Woodmark Company makes fine upholstered pieces. And the exquisite movement in many clocks we offer is made by Old World craftsmen employed by the Kieninger Company of Germany.
While Howard Miller products might once have been primarily considered as gifts for weddings, anniversaries and retirements, the company's expanded line of offerings is enticing more and more buyers who simply desire quality timepieces and furniture in their homes and businesses -- no occasion required.
We offer hundreds of items to complement any decor ranging from portable alarm clocks to desk sets to wall and mantel clocks to collectors cabinets to limited edition grandfather clocks. And in price ranges that may surprise you - from $5 to $15,000.
No matter the price of the purchase, you have the same assurance that Howard C. Miller provided when he began offering clocks more than 70 years ago: That quality be reflected both in the products we create, and in the people whose artistic talents we rely on to manufacture them.
The legacy left by Howard C. Miller isn't an easy one to emulate. But it's the only way we know of doing business. Incomparable workmanship. Unsurpassed quality. A quest for perfection.
