Monday, March 10, 2008

Clock Wise - Rare Vintage Patek Philippe Solar Clock & A Homemade Etch-A-Sketch Clock


Two 1960s Patek Philippe Solar clocks to be auctioned at the upcoming Antiquorum Important Collectors' Wristwatches, Pocket Watches and Clocks in Geneva. The full catalog here-->Link

Estimate: 3,600 USD - 5,400 USD (2,500 EUR - 3,700 EUR)
Auction-->Link

Previously auctioned 1960 Patek "Pendulette" Solar Clock
(or the "R2D2" as I like to call it)
Sold for approx $7000 in 2007->Link


From the Timezone history of the Patek light-powered clock-->Link

"By contemporary standards, the Patek light-wound clock is a technological anomaly and peculiarly primitive. It combines what were, in 1950, state-of-the-art electronics (including very expensive photoelectric cells) with a traditional Patek mechanical hand-wound movement.

To place the light-wound clock in historical perspective, 1950 was also the year that Patek introduced the Gyromax balance wheel, which at the time seemed an important development for the future of the wristwatch. It would be only two years later that Patek would introduce a "fully electronic clock, i.e. without moving parts," and still another year--1953--before Patek introduced its first automatic wristwatch. Just a year after the automatic Patek introduced the first "nuclear-powered" timepiece, "deriving its energy from a radio-active isotope." And finally, in 1958, Patek produced its first quartz-controlled clock. This is an interesting history for a company that is, today, so strongly associated with conservative and traditional mechanical wristwatches."

And now for something completely different...

Angela Yuan, a young NYC mechanical engineer has built a fun little clock from an Etch A Sketch toy. Each minute that passes, the machine tilts the toy, shakes it clean, and mechanically draws the correct time.


Video-->Link



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