I have a Numechron Tymeter similar to the one in the OP. Unfortunately, the motor is very noisy for some reason (probably bearings). Other than the noise, however, it's a neat clock. I have a few similar alarm clocks, one being a GE (with flat-front reels), and one being a Sankyo (with round reels). I also have numerous drop-leaf flip clocks, synchronous electric analog clocks, and fluorescent/LED/LCD digital clocks. However, I'll post a few of the more interesting examples out of my stable of timekeeping devices:
Most interesting analog:
Jefferson Golden Hour
Back in the days when most clocks were analog, there was no mystery as to how the hands were turned, since the face area was solid, and the mechanism was obviously located behind it. However, some companies made clocks whose method of hand-turning were less than obvious, and they were dubbed "mystery clocks". The most successful of these was the Jefferson Electric Golden Hour. The hands are attached to a round glass disk, surrounded by a metal ring (plated with real 24k gold). The minute hand is attached directly to the glass disk, while the hour hand is driven off of the minute hand by a discreet geared weight. A motor in the base turns the gear teeth surrounding the glass disk at a speed of 1RPH, causing the minute hand to move with it, and the geared second hand to move much more slowly, making one revolution every 12 hours (of course). This sort of thing isn't much of a novelty nowadays, but it was quite popular in it's day. I occasionally place oddball objects behind mine, such as a vacuum tube or
lava lamp. Runner-up:
Telechron model 4F51A "Telart"
Most interesting digital:
Skitronix HyperClock
Most LED digital clocks are content to display just the time, with perhaps a blinking seconds cursor. Skitronix, based in Spokane WA, decided to make something a bit more flexible, and designed the HyperClock. Published as plans in the February 1992 issue of Radio-Electronics Magazine, the HyperClock was also available as a kit for $70 (though the PC board alone could be bought for $25). The central display portion consists of three pairs of 7-segment displays; the center one displays hours, the display on the right displays minutes past the hour, and (when a
special mode is selected) the left display shows the minutes until the
next hour once the 30-minute mark has passed. 60 LEDs, arranged in a ring around the perimeter of the board, can be set to display either the seconds count, or the tide level. The HyperClock also features a day/date calendar, alarm w/ snooze function, battery backup, and even an hourly chime. This is probably the most complicated clock I've ever come across. Runner-up:
Hewlett-Packard 59309A HP-IB Digital Clock
Most interesting other:
Pin Clock
A recent desktop novelty, the Pin Clock was made to resemble the "
pin-art" toys occasionally seen in science shops and such. Contrary to it's appearance, only the pins in the seven-segment areas are real; the rest are just plastic fakes. Every minute, a series of solenoids pull the segment areas in and out to change the time display. This makes the Pin Clock very noisy, and unsuitable for bedside use (which is OK, because it doesn't have an alarm function).
-Adam
). Can't find anything about it on the web, other than it's related to some much older ones (this one's a '71).
. Would love an older clock like yours, great construction, neat looks, and fair accuracy. Truth be told though, accuracy doesn't matter to me, i'll be late no matter what
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