If you think you’ve seen a lot of amazing clocks in your life, well, here’s your chance to see some that are both remarkable and strange, but at the same time, very cool.
Our judges have spoken. You may know of a better design, and we’d like to know about it. But out of the thousand or so that we looked at, these are the ones that rose to the top.
1.) The skull and crossbones automaton clock has a mechanical moving jaw, and snakes that dart out of its eyeballs…
2.) This amazing Fruit clock runs on food, just like you do! Indeed, potatoes, oranges, and bananas can be used to make enough electricity to power a digital display clock.
3.) View-Masters were a part of just about everyone’s childhood. For those trying to relive those days, Minnesota artist Debra Dressler has come up with these handmade clocks made with genuine vintage View-Masters.
4.) This clever clock from designer Wil Van Den Bos reverses the normal hands-move-round-the-face convention. The single hand stays still and the clock face is slowly spun through the gears at the top. The main gear is almost two feet wide, so the exposed clockworks up top should be pretty easy to see ticking away.
5.) Designed by David Dear, this amazing looking desk clock is a perfect gift for the home or office. The upper cone representing minutes and the lower cone representing 12 hours. An embossed red line indicates the current time. The Hour Glass desk clock is beautifully made with metal top and base.
6.) Amazing, limited edition Rolling Ball Clock invented by William Congreve and patented in 1808, reproduced by Comitti London.
7.) Nixie tubes, otherwise known as numicators, were hot stuff back in the pre-LED age. This one is the Mother of All Nixie Clocks, using 103 tubes and taking the inventor seven years to build.
8.) A symbol of the Geneva, Switzerland watch industry of world renown, the famous flower clock, located at the edge of the Jardin Anglais (English Garden), was created in 1955. It is a masterpiece of technology and floral art.
9.) Birdcage Clock - Gilt brass and enamel, two singing bird hanging cage with a center-seconds clock beneath, 12-stream fountain, playing four tunes on demand or changing automatically on the hour. Attributed to Jaquet-Droz, Geneva, circa 1780. Timekeeper with 5 Complications, Attributed to Jaquet-Droz, Geneva, circa 1780.
10.) These crazy clocks are a landmark in Prague. We think they just made up the rules for how they work as no one seems to know how to tell time on them.
11.) The Long Now prototype’s calculation engine consists of six serial-bit adders, stacked like pancakes. The long shaft, topped with small gears, is part of a Geneva wheel mechanism. The clock features six of these devices. Each one links an individual serial-bit adder to a large gear that moves a planet in the display.