A Matter of Time

Unique Time: The Most Interesting and Unusual Timepieces

If someone asked you to picture the object you most often use to tell the time, a few things may come to your mind.  You may envision an analog wall clock, a digital alarm clock, a wristwatch, pocket watch, or even the town clock.  For many people around the world today, one of these is probably what they use to tell time from day to day.  Still, there are many time keeping devices that have been made throughout history which are much stranger and more interesting than today’s standard timepieces.  Some of these timepieces are antique or even ancient in nature, while others are more modern.

One example of an older method of keeping time was the burning of candles.  In the medieval times, King Alfred the Great—an Anglo-Saxon king who lived from around 848 to 900 A.D—is given credit for the invention of a time candle (Hutchinson).  These candles were segmented in a way that each segment would represent an amount of time.  As the candle melted down, one could tell how much time had passed.  Oil burning was used in the same way.  The oil fed the wick of the candle, and over time the level of oil in a glass case would drop.  The changing levels of oil could be easily measured by tick marks on the glass case.

“Candle Clock.” Online Image. Science Museum, London. 02 Apr. 2007 . Reproduced with written permission.

 

Another interesting instrument used to tell time was the sundial.  An ordinary sundial is little more than an instrument that tells time based on a shadow cast on it by an object (Hutchinson).  Obviously, sundials had a critical drawback: they only worked with ample sunlight.  There wasn’t any one aspect of the original sundial that was unusual in and of itself.  However, there were ways in which the sundial was fashioned which were extremely clever.  A particularly convenient example was the “ring dial” which was a finger ring with markings on it to help the user tell the time.  A small stick could be placed into a hole atop the ring, and the wearer would have an instant portable sundial.  These were probably used around the 18th century A.D (Shaffer 8). 

                 

“Sundial.” Online Image. www.sxc.hu. 02. Apr. 2007.

The world witnessed the invention of an all-encompassing timepiece with the creation of the 19th century cosmochronotrope.  This complicated contraption is American in origin and displays various times in relation to the motion of the earth (Hutchinson).  The cosmochronotrope actually has affixed to it a working model of the earth which rotates on its axis every 24 hours.  It also contains an illuminated sphere representing the sun which continually illuminates the appropriate part of the globe as the earth rotates (Hutchinson).  In addition to all of this, the cosmochronotrope has a standard clock built to it as well.  The cosomochronotrope certainly seems to embody every mechanism used up until then to tell time!

In 1822 a man named Joseph Ives patented a clever idea (Shaffer 44).  Instead of filling the space on a mantle clock’s middle tablet with a painting or some type of wood, he decided to try putting a mirror in the space. (This tablet is the space that is located beneath a mantle clock’s face).  The top tablet on the clock showed the clock face, the middle contained an elegant mirror, and the bottom revealed the clock’s pendulum.  Now when someone wanted to check the time, he could also check his hair or his shirt collar.

The Renaissance clocks that were introduced in the 16th and early 17th century were far more ornate than their predecessors.  They were unique in that they served primarily as decorative pieces of furniture, they used metallic wheels for the first time and, they often focused on describing astrological aspects of the universe rather than telling time.
The clock’s ability to tell time was secondary to the fact that the clock would sound its chimes regularly or have various figurines move about at regular intervals.  Those that did have clock dials only had hour hands (Shaffer 67).  It was more important to their owners that these highly decorative clocks kept track of the movements of the heavenly bodies and zodiac information than it was that they kept accurate time.  The Renaissance represented a newfound interest in astrological sciences, and the clocks of the age demonstrated this.

One of the most interesting and most oddly shaped timepieces in the 17th century took the form of an inclined plane or ramp with a cylindrical clock on top of it.  The clock rolled down the incline as the week passed, so it kept track of the seven days of the week.  After it was placed at the top of the ramp (Sunday), it would slowly creep down toward the Saturday mark, taking one full week to complete its journey.  To “wind” this clock, all one needed to do was place the rolling clock back at Sunday since the clock relied solely on gravity to activate its clock movement! (Shaffer). The dial remained upright throughout so that you could always read it as you would a normal clock.

There were many, smaller personal clocks made throughout history that had interesting shapes and designs.  There were intricate ball-shaped, metal-encased clocks from the Renaissance era.  Similar to the “ring dial” was a more modern version of time jewelry: a pinky ring with a watch set inside.  Imagine having a tiny clock on your pinky finger.  Do you think it would still be large enough to read the time?  Some of these mini-clocks took on strange shapes, such as a watch set into a metal skull, or a clock face revealed by the spreading wings of a gold beetle surrounded by elegant jewels (Shaffer).  Many small clocks of the nineteenth century would be decorated with elaborate designs and colors, or even portraits.  Throughout history there have been many different types of interesting mini-clocks and watches.

The last unusual clock that we choose to introduce is a fairly famous one: the black and white Kit-Cat Klock with its moving eyes and wagging tail.  The Kit-Cat Klock was introduced in America in the 1930’s during America’s Great Depression.  These clocks have been popular ever since and can still be seen in many homes today.  With the help of gravity, the eyes and tail of the Kit-Cat Klock move simultaneously and help to keep track of time.  Out of all the unusual clocks listed here, the Kit-Cat Klock is probably one of the most whimsical.

In conclusion, it is easy to see that although unusual clocks may not be common, they certainly are around, and have been for quite some time.  Throughout history, unusual clocks such as these have been produced by some of the most creative and pioneering minds of the times.  Since ancient times, people have been finding new and more innovative ways to keep time.  What types of fascinating new timepieces will the future bring?  We can only wait and see!

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