After years of research and development, the world's first mechanical automatic digital watch is a reality!
Ventura SPARC MGS
No batteries included, no batteries required
Ventura invented the Automatic Digital Watch in 2000. The movements
of the wrist activate a rotary mass which relays the momentum to a
micro-generator; the electric energy gained in the process continuously
feeds an optoelectronic time-module. The Micro-Generator-System of the
new SPARC MGS was developed to achieve maximum performance. Placing the
MGS side-by-side next to the time-device enabled a larger and heavier
oscillating mass. This array also permits the viewing of the mechanism
from the top, giving the SPARC MGS its characteristic appearance. The
miniature power-station sustains a state-of-the-art micro-processor and a
250-segments 12-digit liquid-crystal display. The latest operating
system EasySkroll v.2.0 allows later upgrades, another first in
wristwatches. The multiple functions of the SPARC MGS are intuitively
operated by a single scroller.
Watch is supplied in "V-Winder" automatic winding wood box
Specifications:
Pat. pending. dimensions: 60.00 mm x w 38.00 mm Powered by MGS®-11 (Micro Generator System), no battery. Heavy duty Tungsten oscillating mass Digital Model Mvt. VEN_10 with EasySkroll® operating system v2.0. Energy management with sleep mode and movement detector. LED back light. T1/date, T2/date, alarm for T1+T2 100 Year perpetual calendar, chronograph, count down, user-selectable 12 or 24h time 3 date formats, Durinox® (tempered steel) black case 2 sapphire crystals water resistant 3 bar (30m/100ft)
1. MGS®-11 - The owner’s wrist movements cause an oscillating mass to turn approximately 4’000 times per day on average. 2. Gear Train - The oscillating force is transferred to a precision gear with an attached Barillet 3. Barillet - The Gear Train tensions the spring of a Barillet about 17’000 times per day; each time the spring is fully tensioned, it releases its force to a micro-generator 4. Micro-Generator - The Micro-Generator transforms mechanical momentum into electric energy and sends a spark (SPARC®) to an accumulator 5. Accumulator - The accumulator stores the electric energy and powers the Cal. VEN_10 movement 6. Cal. VEN_10 - Ventura’s exclusive caliber with its EasySkroll® operating and scrolling system is entirely operated by the wrist-movements of its owner
Automatic Digital
Wristwatch, case and bracelet, two
sapphire crystals, water resistant 3 bar, with exclusive deluxe wooden
gift casket in piano-lacquer finish. with v-winder included
2nd gen Micro-Generating-System (MGS), EasySkroll® v.2.0 OS, VEN_10 digital module, LC display backlight by LED
Time1 + date1, time2 + date2, alarm, chronograph, countdown,
100 years perpetual calendar with day (5 languages), date, month, year, 12/24h format, 3 date-formats
MGS® power management, manual power off, automatic sleep mode (LC
display "off", functions "on"), motion-sensor to monitor watch
movements, automatic backlight control to prevent over-use
Power reserve: ~ 45 days , > 5 years (manual switch-off mode)
H (6 ~ 12h) 56.30 mm x W (9 ~ 3h) 38.00 mm x T 8.90 / 12.20 mm
Weight: ca. 200 gr.
Time in Six Parts is a series of attempts to unravel and re-present time through alternative perspectives. The hope is to demystify scales of time that are out of our immediate reach and explore new approaches to marking time.
Six timekeeping devices were built as part of Che-Wei Wang's thesis project at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at TISCH, NYU.
3.16 Billion Cycles is a clock that unravels a century through a series of pulleys.
3.16 BILLION CYCLES CLOCK Can we watch decay? Can we see glass as a fluid slowly slumping and deforming over time?
Everything is in constant flux, yet we consider many things around us static and fixed. 3.16 Billion Cycles is an attempt to unravel a seemingly unchanging 100 years into a set of relationships in digestible increments.
A 60 rpm (revolutions per minute) motor drives the entire mechanism. It rotates once every second. The following pulley rotates once every 5 seconds (1:5 ratio). The next rotates once every 60 seconds or 1 minute. Then 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 1 year, and 1 decade. The decade wheel carries the load of the large arc. The large arc rotates once every century. The final ratio between the 60 rpm motor and the large arc is approximately 1:31.6 billion.
Each wheel is marked with a black nut to highlight a position that could be tracked over time. Along the arc, 100 lines mark the divisions of each passing year. When the clock finally reaches the end of a 100 year cycle, the arc falls off its track onto the floor.
ONE HOUR SPROCKET CLOCK
How accurate does a clock need to be? Most household clocks display time with 3 mechanical movements; the hour, on a 12 hour cycle; minutes past the hour; and seconds past the minute. How crucial is it for us to know how many seconds are past the minute? Do we need to know the exact number of minutes past the hour? One Hour Sprocket is a wall-mounted 12 hour clock with a 60 tooth sprocket attached to a motor, completing one revolution every hour. From the sprocket hangs a chain that consists of 720 links. Each link accounts for every minute of a 12 hour cycle. Among the black chain links is one polished stainless steel link to identify the position of the hour past 12 o’clock. To tell time one can estimate the position of the “hour hand” or count the number of links from the polished link to the top of the clock for a more accurate reading.
Between two 1/4” steel plates, sits a stepper motor, which ticks every 18 seconds. The hanging chain juggles with each tick reassuring the clock’s functionality.
We rely heavily on our vision to identify change. We see sand accumulating at the bottom of the hourglass. We see the minute hand rotate clockwise. How would our sense of time change if we cast time to another sense?
Thermal Clock is a timepiece that positions heat along a bar over a 24 hour cycle to tell time.
Using an array of peltier junctions, heat is emitted from a focused area moving from left to right along the bar over the course of a day.
As a child, I remember challenging myself to count to 1000, 1 million, or 1 billion. I don’t think I ever made it. Why do we aimlessly count? How long would it take to count to a billion?
Counting to a Billion is a device created to fulfill the desire to count. The electronics consists of a microcontroller, a speech module, and a speaker powered by a rechargeable battery. There is no/off switch. The voice begins counting at one, two, three and continues counting up until it reaches one billion at which point in time it will stop.
Counting to a Billion Clock
If it took a second to utter each string of numbers, it would take 1 billion seconds or 31.7 years for the device to reach its end. But since it takes more than a second to vocalize many of the numbers in the sequence, it may take upwards of 60 years to complete.
The unit is housed in a solid block of aluminum, cnc milled into a vessel that was designed to withstand substantial abuse over many years.
Time is our measure of a constant beat. We use seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, etc. But what if we measured time against rituals, chores, tasks, stories, and narratives? How can we use our memory, prediction, familiar and unfamiliar narratives to tell time?
As a child, I remember using the length of songs as a way to measure how much time was left during a trip. A song was an appropriate period to easily multiply to get a grasp of any larger measure like the time left until we arrived to our grandmother’s place. The length of a song was also a measure I could digest and understand in an instant.
The first iteration of Cinematic Timepiece consists of 5 video loops playing at 5 different speeds on a single screen. The video is of a person coloring in a large circle on a wall.
The frame furthest to the right is a video loop that completes a cycle in one minute. The video to the left of the minute loop completes its cycle in one hour. The next completes in a day, then a month, then a year.
Through various iterations, we intend to experiment with various narratives and rituals captured in a video loop to be read as measures of time.
The software was written in OpenFrameworks for a single screen to be expanded in the future for multiple screens as a piece of hardware.
We often compare ourselves to friends, colleagues, relatives, idols, etc. on a scale of time that’s beyond our comprehension. Full of hope and objectives that are far into the future, we strive to achieve as much as our parents, friends, and heroes. What do you plan to achieve in the next 5 years? 10 years? 20? How long will you live?
Though there are many unknowns, we share one lifetime as a common measure.
In a Lifetime is a website that visualizes individual achievements and milestones along the scale of one lifetime. Each point along the arc represents a milestone where the top (12th hour) is their moment of birth, the right quadrant (3rd hour) is a quarter through their life, the bottom (6th hour) is half way through their life, and so on. The mapping strips age as a parameter from individuals and scales lifespans to compare achievements of one life with another.
The website collects information about each individual through a publicly accessible interface. Input parameters are, author, date of birth, lifespan, milestone or note, and significance (0-100). Anyone who visits the site can enter information about an individual to be mapped. If one so desires, you can enter your predicted lifespan to compare personal milestones to others.
Some patterns emerge. Significant achievements are made between the half way point and the 3/4 point of their lives. Beyond the 3/4 point, nearly all individuals stop accruing achievements . Around the half way point in their individual lives, Albert Einstein wrote the General Theory of Relativity, Constantin Brancusi completed the Kiss, Le Corbusier completed Villa Savoye, Leonardo Da Vinci drew the proportions of human figure after Vitruvious.
Young British designer Duncan Shotten has created this inventive mechanical digital prototype clock. For those of you that appreciate Harry Winston Opus 9 reinterpretation of a digital watch as a mechanical timepiece, then you gotta dig this kid's clock.
Numbers are printed on vertical sliders and only reveal themselves when shifted into perfect alignment with the 'display box'. when not aligned they look like random, alien forms and represent the negative of the number that is required.
The sliders are gradually cranked up using motors coupled to intricate mechanics in accurate time. upon reaching the last number (e.g. the 9th minute) the same motor disengages the ratchet’s 'stopper' and the slider then falls to the first number again.’
Jaquet Droz 'La Machine à Ecrire le Temps' (The Machine that Writes the Time)
by Maximilian Büsser via MB&F's Parallel World "Baselworld 2009 has just finished and, amongst the flurry of new horological creations, the timepiece that really impressed and amazed me wasn't a wristwatch at all, but an incredible horological machine in its own right.
Jaquet Droz's 'La Machine à Ecrire le Temps' - The Machine that Writes the Time.
Manuel Emch, president and head of artistic creation at Montres Jaquet Droz, has done a superb job in reinventing the brand over the last 8 years.
18th century automates from Jaquet Droz: the Draftsman, the Musician and the Writer
Jaquet Droz was one of the most celebrated creators of automatons in the past and in developing this modern time writing machine, they have created one of the most amazing "horological sculptures" to date, as well as added to the brand's rich heritage.
The project was the brainchild of Manuel Emch who had, amongst other objectives, the idea to create an automaton that relates to the 21st century. The result is as impressive as it is poetic. La Machine à Ecrire le Temps is an incredible blend of tradition, kinetic art, high-tech horology . . . and magic.
The development and construction of La Machine à Ecrire le Temps took the best part of a decade. It contains more than 1,200 components, including 84 ball bearings, 50 cams and 9 belts, and took thousands of hours to construct and regulate.
The masterpiece is housed in an unusual cage, whose aluminium frame is fitted with a liquid crystal glass, allowing the owner to mask or unveil the whole movement at will. A light touch activates the mechanism and a stylus writes the time in hours and minutes."
Some antique Jaquet Droz Automaton videos "The Writer" & "The Artist";
"This is the XXI Century Sundial, created by Alessandro using an Arduino microcontroller, a wall, and a laser.
This is a simple project of a sundial wherein the pinion is replaced by a line LASER I took from a LASER level. The LASER is mounted on a RC servo which in turn is driven by a micro controller. The micro controller keeps the time and turns the RC servo accordingly. ... Shorting pins 1-2 adds some life to the sundial and makes it count just the seconds. Hypnotic initially, then pointless.
Originally put together using an Atmel controller, it is "very basic in design it does exactly what I wanted," Alessandro writes."
Mr Jones Watches have produced two new special edition watches. Both models feature black PVD coating which gives a hard-wearing, elegant finish.
These are serious watches for the serious times we find ourselves in. The black coating on the watch case is matched on the buckle and completed with a black leather strap and (what else!) black stitching.
Mr Jones Watches is the new cult watch brand from London. They believe that a watch should do more than just tell the time.
All the Mr Jones Watches are designed by Crispin Jones, they are genuine indie products entirely conceived and executed following a singular vision.
These models will be available for a limited period only.
This is a special edition of the most accurate wristwatch you can buy - the hour hand reads "remember", the minute hand "you will die".
The dial and rim of the glass are mirrored, so the wearer is reflected in the watch face.The Accurate is a link to the tradition of the memento mori - an object designed to remind us that life is brief and that we should seize the moment while we are here.
The Accurate is our best selling model and we're very pleased with how well this special edition looks on the wrist.
This watch eschews the conventional division of a day into 24 hours, instead it divides into units of median daily routine.
The dial shows a breakdown of what average people do on an average day, so you’re able to see what you yourself should - on average - be doing at any time.
The Mantra alternates a very positive statement (e.g. "you are amazing") with a very negative one (e.g. "nobody likes you"). Every hour the watch displays one positive message and one negative message (the wedge that you read the statement through is also the hour hand).
Over time The Mantra makes the arrogant person more humble and makes the humble more confident.
The Decider is a watch that helps you make decisions: as the seconds tick round you see either the word "YES" or "NO" displayed on the watch face; when you need to make a decision you simply look at your watch for your answer.
The Future is now! This watch displays a carpe diem message along with the time. The hour and minute hand make up the words “the future”, whilst the face alternately displays “is” and “now”. This watch is a handy reminder to the wearer to live in the present.
Two characters on the watch enact a tiny choreographed play. They look all around, but never rest on the other’s gaze. The faces keep their tiny vigil on your wrist and are always ready to share a moment of micro-poetry whenever you look at your watch.
The two faces each have a small magnifying dome over them to aid visibility.
The design of this watch is inspired by the game of effeuiller la marguerite in which “loves me, loves me not” is spoken while plucking the petals of a flower.
Loves Me acts as a never-ending, animated flower that answers love dilemmas: pulling up the winding crown stops the mechanism and reveals cupid’s verdict.
This watch offers you two ways of looking at the passing of time - around the circumference of the dial the words "one more, one less" slowly revolve. This presents a balanced way of viewing the passing of time in our lives.
In the past, I've written about high end masterpieces like Vianney Halter's Antiqua (starting at $50,000 and up) and the artistic horology concept watches of Haruo Suekichi, but it was only a matter of time before affordable Jules Vernesque timepieces were made for those who want to actually own a high quality Steampunk wristwatch. Yes, the term has worn out its welcome but the look is timeless nevertheless -- and how can a riveted porthole watch not be cool?
The brand is Retrowerk of Germany and below, I photographed their off-the-wall collection wristwatches with elements of brass and steel pistons, portholes, rivets, compasses, revolving jump hour discs, screwcap crown covers, chains, automatic rotor mechanisms, and of course, many cogs and gears. The prices range from $429 to $1098 USD.
The first is the Compass Jump Hour, an extreme multi-leveled timepiece with a partial dial with three discs for hours, minutes and seconds. Protruding up like a periscope is the compass under thick "coke bottle" type glass, almost as if there is a submarine cruising inside your wrist. The automatic winding version utilizes a Swiss ETA 2824 mechanical movement.
Protrusions are a reoccuring theme with Retrowerk - the Piston (above), with namesake piston mechanism-screwcap crown cover and riveted watch case. As I attempt to showcase in my photos far below, each angle of the watch is mechanically sculptural and borders on satisfyingly absurd. Automatic version also features a Swiss ETA 2824 movement.
Side-view of Retrowerk Compass Watch
Full-frontal view
Jump Hour display and raised compass
Sideways
Screw-cap detatched exposing crown
Extreme view
The Retrowerk Piston
Piston Crown Cap
Riveted Piston Case
Piston mechanism
Additional views of the Piston
Rivets Rivets Rivets!
A third model features a retrograde display for 24 hour GMT time zone.
