Watchismo Times: mechanical life

Showing posts with label mechanical life. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2009

Jaquet Droz Automaton 'La Machine à Ecrire le Temps' (The Machine that Writes the Time)

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";

video link

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Watches Schmatches... Strandbeasts!

Ok, after 20 months straight of blogging about the high and low underworld of timepiecery, I ran out of steam. Frankly, there just hasn't been anything particularly interesting lately to inspire a post.

But all that will soon change and I'll be back bigger and better than ever. Just give me some time!

For now, check out this fascinating story about the Dutch mechanical life inventor Theo Jansen and his wind-powered Strandbeasts (via the MB&F Our World blog-->Link)