Caveat; I am not a clock expert by any means. I have purchased three Howard Miller clocks, including a large wall clock and a mantle clock (both battery), and a fancy wind-up clock. All have served well.

I also have a couple of old Ansonias, a Bulova wall clock, and a couple of other old wind ups (Gilbert, New Haven). I am comforted by the sound of clocks.

because she knows that I like them. I like tinkering with the old clocks and have one in nearly every room in my house (some rooms with more than one) When my kids come to visit, I have to shut them down. I also think that it is cool as grits to keep a clock from the 1880s working for me.

Check around for clock repair shops, they will generally have refurnished units to sell that would fall well under your budget. I have a couple of old Korean made mantle type clock that keep time to within a couple of minutes a month, they run 30 days between winding and cost about $75.00. They outperform my much more expensive old American made clocks.