My Favorite Things About Electric Clocks
My Favorite Clock sites
Pappy's Telechron Page - a great resource for Telechron clock info
A great resource for information on Jefferson Electric clocks
Timesavers - A great source for clock parts
eBay - a good source for all kinds of clocks, and other things as well...
For most of my life, I have been fascinated by clocks. Ever since I was a baby, I had an affinity for timepieces. Even the subject of time travel has had an allure to me (not too surprisingly, Back To The Future is one of my favorite movies of all time). I have been collecting clocks of all shapes and sizes most of my life, and have always liked having a large array of them set up at one time (much like Doc Brown's experiment as seen at the beginning of Back To The Future). In the past few years, my collection has focused largely on clocks which are powered and synchronized by the AC power line. Currently, I have around twenty-one line-powered clocks, ten of which are mechanical-digital, six of which are mechanical-analog, and five of which are LED/LCD-digital. I also own a Casio "Wave Ceptor" wristwatch which receives calibration signals from the WWVB station in Fort Collins, CO, and helps keep the clocks in close synchronization (though they tend to drift a few seconds ahead or behind WWV, due to a slight inaccuracy in the supplied line frequency).
My first electric analog clock was a Jefferson Electric "Golden Hour" clock (pictures and info available here) given to me by a neighbor. Golden Hour clocks were made for over 40 years, and are fairly easy to find nowadays. The Golden Hour is classified as a 'mystery clock', since there is no visible means of moving the hands, which are attached to a round piece of glass, and appear to float in midair. A motor in the base turns a gear attached to the glass, which rotates at 1/60 RPMs. The minute hand turns along with the glass, while the hour hand is further geared from the minute hand to make one rotation every 12 hours. This makes for an elegant timepiece, and one which is also functional. Apart from replacing the motor (still available today from Timesavers) and power cord, mine has required little maintenance. Due to the transparent face, it's neat to place objects behind it, which makes for an interesting effect. I used to place a tall 811A vacuum tube behind it, which looked pretty cool, especially with the bright filament of the 811A lit.
I also collect Telechron electric clocks. Telechron was founded by Henry Warren, who invented the self-starting line-synchronous motor in the early 1900s. Before then, electric clocks were not very accurate, and needed to be started manually (usually through a 'spinner knob' which was attached to the motor). Among my small collection of Telechrons is a model 4F51, also known as the "Telart" (pictures and info available here), which I picked up at an antiques store for $12. It is a beautiful clock, and works perfectly. I also own a model 7H141, also known as the "Airlux" (pictures and info available here), which I picked up at a flea market for $10. It is a very common clock, and mine's in somewhat-shoddy shape (the plexiglass is crazed on the sides, and I had to repair the wiring at the coil), but it's still a nice clock.
Analog clocks are not the only ones I collect. I also collect ones which display the time directly (numbers, instead of hour and minute hands). Most of them are flip clocks (the numbers are on small plastic cards, which flip down to the next minute). One of them is a Panasonic model RC-6551 flip clock radio (picture available here), from around 1971. It is quite elaborate, having a day/date calendar in addition to a time display (the day and date automatically update less than an hour after 12 midnight, though months less than 31 days in length have to be compensated for manually). When I acquired it, the motor didn't move at all. I used a series of oils to bring it back to life, and now it runs silently on my bedside table. I also have a Hallmark-Ricoh model 3600 flip clock, which I bought at a flea market for a buck. It is my only flip clock without either an alarm or radio integrated. It has a funky day-glo orange plastic case, with a trapezoidal shape to the front, and a rounded back. It practically screams "'70s". I also have some 'scroll clocks', the type with numbered reels which smoothly roll down to the next minute. I have a pair of '70s GEs (often referred to as "dice clocks", since the reels have several sides instead of being round), as well as a Numechron "Tymeter" from the '60s.
Last, but not least, are the LED/LCD types. Most of them are fairly unremarkable, since the designs are static and boring. However, one of them stands out from the rest: a Micronta model 63-814, from the '80s. In addition to the standard hours/minutes adjustments, by moving a switch, the seconds count is displayed instead, along with the ones digit of the current minute. When setting the time, the seconds count can either be reset to 00, or stopped where it is, for synchronizing with other clocks. I have owned two of them, both yard sale finds; one of them stopped displaying time correctly shortly after I bought it, but the other one is still working.
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