We all need to tell the time – but some watches and clocks have gone
down in history as devices or monuments that do that little bit more.
From showpiece devices that dominate a city’s social and cultural
landscape, through to the watches sported by film heroes and villains,
to the real-life icons, these are timepieces that do far more than just
tic along.
These are the most famous watches and clocks in the world.Countdown clock
Do-do, do-do, do-do-do-do, dooo! No, we’ve not gone mad. It’s that
strange little world famous tune that signifies the end of your 30
seconds when all you’ve got is a five letter word or, worse, you’ve hit a
blank. It’s also the only clock in the world that’s more than 30 years
old, where only one half of it has ever been used.
Apparently in the early stages of the Countdown TV show (“Letters and
numbers” in Australia), producers were unsure how long they would give
each contestant – hence the ‘pointless’ half.
Big Ben
The bell inside the most famous clock in London, England, measures
9′-0″ (2.75 metres) in diameter, is 7′-6″ (2.28 metres) high and weighs
13 tons 10 cwts 3 qtrs 15lbs (13,760 Kg).
The tower which houses the clock is called the Elizabeth Tower and
stands at the north end of the Houses of Parliament. The name Big Ben is
often used to describe the whole tower.
The tower may never have existed if fire had not consumed the old
Palace of Westminster in 1834. Charles Barry enlisted fellow architect
Augustus Pugin to create the 315-foot (96-metre) bell tower which was
completed in 1859, five years behind schedule.Often used as a scene-setter for movies, Big Ben is a popular photographic piece and the perfect background for thousands of selfies.
Pulp Fiction
It’s been described by some as one of the most important scenes in cinematic history. You know the one – Christopher Walken as Captain Koons tells a young Butch Coolidge the tale of how one of the first wristwatches in existence, dating back to 1916, survived four generations and three wars.Astronomical Clock, Prague
Useful for when you need the time in Babylonian Hours, perhaps during
a stag do (bachelor’s party) when time blurs. This medieval
astronomical clock is located in southern wall of the Old Town City Hall
in the Old Town Square of Prague, Czech Republic.
It has inspired many legends including the tragic tale of its builder
Master Hanus who was said to have been blinded by officials to prevent
him recreating his work. Later it was discovered in a documented dating
to 1961 that the clock was made by Mikulas of Kadan in 1410.
The ornate clock features a calendar dial that makes one rotation a
year, the old Czech time, and 12 wooden sculptures of the Apostles that
pass by window above the dial on every hour.
It is the oldest working astronomical clock in the world. (The oldest working mechanical clock was built in 1386, still ticking away in the Salisbury Cathedral.)Apple Watch
A watch that became world famous even before it existed: the Apple Watch, launched in April 2015.
It connects to the Internet, gets your Facebook updates and tweets,
report flight check-ins, tunes to a radio or television station, and
much more. It stores your data, photos, music and videos. It could
eliminate the need to carry a wallet or purse because of its Apple Pay
facility. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the smartwatch will help in the
battle against cancer by reminding wearers to move at regular times.
It inspired a host of designs from competitors, all in the race to
include as many apps as possible at the touch of the tiny screen or at
the command of your voice or body movement: camera, accelerometer,
altimeter, barometer, compass, chronograph, calculator, GPS navigation,
heart rate monitor, maps, thermometer, weather, etc.
And finally, it tells the time – in the coolest fashion possible.
Grand Central Terminal Clock, New York
Located on top of the information booth in one of the most famous
stations in the world, the Grand Central Terminal Clock is one of the
Big Apple’s fondest icons.
Designed by Henry Edward Bedford and cast in Waterbury Connecticut,
each of the four convex clock faces is made from opalescent glass. It
was completed in 1913 for the opening of the terminal.
According to the station’s official website
more than 750,000 people pass through the station in Manhattan every
day and no doubt grab a quick glimpse of this brass beauty. Most
probably don’t know that the time on the clocks – the terminal clock and
the Tiffany clock outside the station – are fast by exactly one minute. In fact, and so are the departure schedules. All done for safety reasons.
Munich Rathaus-Glockenspiel
The top half tells the story of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V through jousts, while the lower half displays the ritual of the 500-year-old ‘coopers’ dance’.
