A friend of ours recently bought a chime from us. When queried about the site, he exclaimed that the choices were overwhelming. Wow! Sorry about that! As of this writing, we sell about 99 chime models. And figuring that they come in different colors, lengths, and musical scales, I can see how it would be a daunting task to pick one as a gift for someone.

Here’s an über short primer on the 10 lines of chimes we sell and their relative quality:

• Top tier: Bells of Vienna, Corinthian Bells, Gentle Spirits
• Middle tier: Majestic Spirits, Shenandoah Melodies, Arias Elite
• Lower tier: Arias, Festival, Majesty Bells, Weatherland

It’s not that the lower tier chimes are bad, but they have a shorter warranty (if any) and the tubes are generally thinner and don’t have the central pin suspension, and the striker and cap are made of wood. They are still fine wind chimes, however, giving good sounds, and lasting for years.

The middle tier chimes have a bit higher quality because of their thicker (but fewer) tubes, and most have a 3-year warranty. Arias Elite chimes are a close cousin to the Arias chimes (lower tier). But they belong in the middle tier because they have six thicker-walled tubes and come in great colors. The striker and cap are made of wood.

The top tier chime lines are the best on our site.  They have all-metal tubes, wind sail and top cap.  They have central pin suspension in the tubes and a high-density, top-quality plastic striker.  It’s that combination of the striker with the thick-walled tubes that gives that fantastic, resonant melody that customers love.

More detail regarding each line is on the BuyChimes website. For example, click the Corinthian Bells link, and you will see the full description of the features above the individual model pictures.

Of course, if you have any questions about the chimes we offer, feel free to contact us.

Jeff

So we are digging out from 18 inches of snow! We hope to have the wind chime shipping operations back in… operation soon.

We are experiencing a big snowstorm today. The weather folks are calling for 16 to 20 inches total. I’m sorry that this might delay some packages for Christmas.

our snowy Corinthian Bells 306

Jeff

BuyChimes

I like those advertisements from the old days when they used decorative fonts and an artist’s drawing of the product. The wanted posters of the Old West often had a hand pointing to the reward amount. The pointing hand, I learned recently, is called a manicule (derived from manus, the Latin word for hand).

Sample manicules

Here is some interesting reading (at least I found it interesting; Carolyn thinks I’m a bit off my rocker): Toward a History of the Manicule (or see the pdf version), by William H. Sherman. Basically, he researched that readers from the Renaissance onward would draw a manicule in the margin pointing to the text that they wanted to mark as important. They indicate to take note. This is important. Printers later adopted it as a visual cue for the reader that what follows  is important.

The set of examples (mostly signage) on the  Flicker collection of manicules is growing. One clever woman is even following the beck and call of (nearly every) manicule she sees (Yes manicule)! It seems to be getting more use. I love that. Thank you, Mr. Sherman, for your research on these “pointing hand thingies” and for resurrecting the name for us to use.

We at BuyChimes use the manicule to point out that what follows is important. In fact, it’s probably the most important thing for a wind chime—its sound. And what better device to use?

Jeff
BuyChimes.com

Maybe you’ve been raking leaves from your yard all fall. You’re tired. Now is your chance to rake in some savings as a reward. Our Rake-in-the-savings sale is going on now. We started this storewide sale on November 7, and it will go through the 20th.

Here’s an example of the savings—the Corinthian Bells 306, a popular chime for gift-giving, is regularly $62.00. During the sale, we’ve reduced the price to $58.00. The Gentle Spirits 108, a perfect small chime in the key of C, is on sale for $51.00, originally $57.00. All products are discounted, including the popular BuyChimes carabiners, used for hanging.

These crisp, fall days are simply perfect here in Northern Virginia. The sugar maples are at their peak this week and there’s usually a light breeze to ring chimes – what could be better?! (Now if that light breeze would just send all the leaves down at once…)

Now that the days are turning cooler, we also heard from a number of customers about a Christmas sale, and indeed, we’re on the cusp of announcing an “Early Bird” Christmas Sale. In this case, the bird gets the chime, not the worm!

Be sure to check back soon for discounts on the unique gift of wind chimes. And please, if you need a recommendation on a chime, call me! I’m always happy to offer a suggestion, depending on your budget and gift recipient.

What’s your favorite chime? Currently, I have a Corinthian Bells 306 (the 36 inch) chime hanging close to my front door. Even in the slightest, metro-DC breeze, which is never strong, I can hear it ringing. I love it! It’s not one of the deepest chimes, but the resonance and lilting melodies make it perfect for my flower garden. Many friends and family comment on it as they come up the walkway to the house.

Tell us what chime you have and why you love it.  Maybe it’s right by the water garden in your back yard?  Or perhaps it greets you in the morning outside the bedroom window?  We’d enjoy hearing your story.

Chimes are used as unique gifts. Many customers choose to gift chimes, whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, wedding, Mother’s Day, and of course, Christmas. A quality set of chimes is also a wonderful sympathy gift, along with a note of remembrance of their loved one every time they hear the chimes. We also have corporate customers, realtors and house builders, who send wind chimes as house-warming gifts. If you need a chime recommendation for a particular event, please give us a call (877-293-6395). We can usually recommend one that is perfect, and stays within your budget.

Wow! Carolyn is quoted in the first page of a Washington Woman magazine article (August 2009 issue). Each month, The Home Page column feature businesses or products related to the home. The title sums it up for August: Have the Chime of Your Life (active magazine reader) or here’s the pdf version.

In the article, Carolyn offers tips on hanging chimes, being considerate of your neighbor (who could argue with that?) and some info on the chimes we sell. Hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to the BuyChimes blog. We hear many great questions and stories about our wind chimes all the time! So here’s our blog to hopefully answer questions and tell a few stories of our own.
A popular question–what chime should I buy that will sound good with the one I already have?

I usually recommend that folks think about how close or far apart you plan to hang the chimes. If they are not close together, then by all means, any chime will simply add to the melodious sounds that are filling your garden. If they will be close together, perhaps a higher or lower pitched chime in the same key will sound the best. The Corinthian Bells chimes have three sizes in the key of C, for example – the 106, the 476 and the 446. Or the key of A can be found in both the 206 and the popular 516.

But if you are a person that simply loves the resonance of particular chime lines, buy whatever you want! You can’t go wrong with the Corinthian Bells, Bells of Vienna and Gentle Spirits lines.