Grandfather Clocks

Grandfather clocks have been around a long time now. They evolved from wall clock . The astronomers need more accurate clocks, so they made the pendulums longer and longer. Eventually, the became less specialized and the new makers put them into into long cases so they could be placed on the floor, and thus turned into long case clocks. Many more improvements occurred over time and refined them into the modern clocks you see today. They still all tend to have similar characteristics and styles. Tall, wooden, usually with ornate carvings and one of about a half dozen songs. There are a number of places you can get them, but there are also a number of things you should think about before you do.

Classification

They are pendulum driven clocks in a tall wooden cases. These clocks stand on the floor and are six to eight feet tall. They usually has a classic architecture but over time different styles have come into and out of favor.

Where did the name come from

They were first called long case clocks due to the long case they came in. Some people called them coffin clocks because the long cases looked liked coffins. For more information on the history of their name see the page on the history of their name.

Who invented them

The idea for the first pendulum clock came into being in the 1500s. It was the astronomers that first came up with the idea of making the pendulums longer to improve accuracy. They needed the improvements to perform better calculations about the movements of the heavens. Many changes have occurred to their design since then to improve their ability to keep time. For more information on their history see the page on their history.

'The smallest watch in the world', 1929

This Jaeger- LeCoultre '101' wristwatch movement introduced in 1929 remains the smallest mechanical wristwatch movement ever made. It was put into series production and remained available at least until the 1950s. It comprises 98 parts, measures 14mm x 4.8mm x 3.4mm, and weighs only 0.9 grammes (including the dial and hands). LeCoultre company have manufactured precision watch components since 1833. In 1903 Jacques David Le Coultre entered into a partnership with the chronometer-maker Edmond Jaeger and together they manufactured some of the most technologically advanced watches of the era. They also introduced the Reverso watch in 1931, which became one of the best known watches in the world.

The Most Expensive Watches

credit to Neal Santelmann

In case you haven't noticed, it'll soon be gift-giving time again. And to those of you still struggling to find that perfect something for that special someone--even yourself--we'd like to offer some, ahem, timely advice.

There are few more desirable, or desired, possessions than a fine timepiece. If the person you are thinking of this holiday season has been exceptionally good--and by that we mean had a platinum-selling album, brought in a multimillion dollar deal, named you to the board of a major foundation or gave birth to triplets--then they might themselves unwrapping an exceptionally good, and exceptionally expensive, watch this year.

While many watchmakers make most of their profits from bread-and-butter product lines--which, at the higher-end levels, tend to retail in the $5,000 range--many of the top-end brands also offer watches that cost well into six figures. These include mechanical men's watches laden with grande complications or ladies' watches dripping with jewels from premier Swiss watchmakers such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Girard-Perregaux and the like. Oh, they're going to cost you--$200,000 per easily, and much, much more if you really want to splurge. But the gift you'll be giving is as timeless, intricate and impressive as they come--even if it ends up under lock and key, as such timepieces tend to do.

The creation of very expensive and very intricate watches is a long tradition within the relatively brief history of the industry, which really only got going in the latter half of the 19th century. During World War I wristwatches became popular with military officers and soon watchmakers such as Cartier and Patek Philippe began marketing limited edition and steeply priced models expressly for the connoisseurs' market. And it didn't take long for others to follow.

"Then as now, at the most expensive levels wristwatches are status symbols meant for collectors," says Matthew Morse, editor in chief of WatchTime magazine, who notes that these days any watch retailing for more than $100,000 will likely only be of interest to true aficionados. "Though some watch companies don't make a lot of money off of their highest-end watches because of the cost of research and development, they still produce them to give their brand an ambiance of exclusivity. For people who can afford them, they're about the pleasure of owning something extraordinary, whether or not they ever actually wear them."

Go looking for an exorbitantly expensive wristwatch, and what will you find? On the men's side, it's complications and plenty of 'em, including chronograph functions for timing laps, moon phase indicators for tracking slices of the lunar pie, and perpetual calendar functions which track days, months and even years for centuries--as if you really need a watch to tell you that. The new Grande Complication by Jean Dunand really packs them in with a mono-pusher split-second chronograph, split-second hand isolator, minute repeater, tourbillon, bi-retrograde perpetual calendar, and even a see-through sapphire back signed by its creator, Christophe Claret. Marketed by Swiss manufacturer World Première Watchmaking as "one of the five most complicated wrist watches in the world," the Grande Complication is certainly one of the most expensive, with a limited edition of six--three in 18K rose gold, two in 18K white gold, one in platinum--ranging $700,000 to $800,000 per. Alas, the first specimens haven't quite been shipped yet, and so couldn't be included on our list.

Lately watchmakers have also begun loading their high-priced products with more useful complications, such as power reserve indicators that alert when your watch needs rewinding, or GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) functions to make it easier for travelers to keep track of multiple time zones.

One of the most prestigious and costly complications to be found is the tourbillon movement, an intricate mechanism that eliminates time-keeping errors caused by minute variations that result from shifts in gravity whenever a watch changes position. Invented in 1795 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, tourbillon movements have been so de rigueur on high-end watches of late they risk becoming overplayed. "There are tourbillons, and there are tourbillons," observes Morse, who notes that when less-exclusive watch brands latch onto the complication for "instant cache," they're really just "manufacturing luxury that has no soul."

If the tourbillon is bordering on overproduction, "minute repeater" functions are still on the rise. First created in the days before widespread use of electric lighting, repeater watches aid wearers in the dark by chiming or "repeating" the current time at the push of a button. Using bells of different tones, a minute repeater will ring out hours, quarter hours, and the minutes past since the last quarter hour. Like most of the complications found at the priciest levels, it's convenient, unnecessary and totally cool.

Of course, all such attributes are only worthwhile if you can actually purchase a watch that has them, which at the highest-end levels is often easier desired than done. Many of the world's most expensive watches are produced in severely limited quantities--including infinitesimal editions of one--and frequently have buyers lined up long before they're finished, often at rates of just a few per year. As a spokeswoman from Audemars Piguet responded when we enquired about the company's highest-end timepiece: "I was thinking of a skeletonized Grand Complication which retails for $700,000, but unfortunately it was sold as soon as we received it." Unfortunately for anyone who could afford it, that is.

To that end, we've compiled a selection of ten highest-end wristwatches that are not only exorbitantly expensive, but are available right now. These are not classic watches, i.e., old watches, which can often cost considerably more. In 1999 the most expensive watch ever sold, a 1933 gold Patek Phillipe with 24 complications, was auctioned off at Sotheby's for $11 million.

They include nine watches for the gentlemen, and one drenched in jewels for the ladies--though, these days, you can pretty much get away with just about anything on your wrist. You may have to hustle to get them, as more than a few of the watches are available in minimal quantities of just one or two. Just know that they're worth the time and trouble--whoever you're buying them for.

MUSK Funds Pacific Underwater Expedition, Finds Godzilla's Watch

We're not sure what kind of person would enjoy this outsized watch from MUSK (even Biggs had a limit), but if he's out there, he's got one big wrist. The makers claim that this watch is the world's largest, and at 1.57 pounds, that's pretty believable.

Despite the gigantic size, it's only 24,900 yen ($209). Which makes it, sizewise, actually quite reasonably priced. – Jason Chen

Clock tower

A clock tower is a tower built with one or more (often four) clock faces.The clock tower is usually part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall, but many clock towers are free-standing.

The mechanism inside the tower is known as a turret clock. It often marks the hour (and sometimes segments of an hour) by sounding large bells or chimes, sometimes playing simple musical phrases or tunes.

Although clock towers are today mostly admired for their aesthetics, they once served an important purpose. Before the middle of the twentieth century, most people did not have watches; clock towers were therefore placed near the centers of towns and were often the tallest structures there. The use of clock towers in the West date back to the ancient Roman period, while other civilizations such as medieval China also featured clock towers (see Su Song).

Some clock towers are famous landmarks. Three of the best-known are the clock tower which houses Big Ben (often itself colloquially referred to as Big Ben) of the Palace of Westminster in London, the Rajabai Tower in Mumbai, and the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.

On New Year's Eve 2004 four 6.3-metre clock faces were added to the top of the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science building in Warsaw, Poland making it the highest 4-faced clock tower in the world and the second highest clock tower in the world.[1]. The NTT DoCoMo Yoyogi Building 240 meters (787 feet) is 10 meters higher and is the highest clock tower in the world. The Allen-Bradley Clock Tower holds the record for largest non-chiming four faced clock. The chimes were intentionally left out so that the Big Ben tower would still have that record.


A turret clock is a large mechanical clock set in a tower for use by a large number of people.

Typically found in a church tower or other public building the clock mechanism drives the hands on one or more large clock faces visible from the outside.

Public and tower clocks are also known as turret clocks, and nowadays is not necessarily a large mechanical clock. Most of these clocks have some mechanical parts such as gears behind the dials known as motionwork, but often the hands are directly driven by electric motors.

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