Microstran
For the Horologically Inclined... Links
I'm personally fascinated by time, mechanical and electrical clock movements, and antique clocks in general. Like many people that are first introduced to the intricate workings of the interior of a pocket watch from great grandfather I was simply amazed at the level of detail and craftsmanship. The miniaturization of the parts and the feeling you get that you were meant to view not only the face but the workings inside as well. I remember thinking "How could they do this with the tools they must have had back then?" Well the answer I got once I looked into it really is that the tools were in most instances as intricate as the parts they produced. Add to that the men working on these problems were, in many cases the most brilliant and accomplished of their age.
If you're intrested in time, clocks, watches etc... I've managed to accumulate a number of links to interesting antique clock, clock repair, watch collecting, electric clocks, and general time related sites. Here are some of my favorites:
Links related to plastics, Art Deco clocks and those beautiful Catalyn clocks and radios from the golden years of American Mfg:
- This guys site is absolutely the definitive site for all things Telechron
- This site includes great examples fo the Telechron master clocks that started everything
- Those interested in the history of Telechron should pick up a copy of "Electrifying Time: Telechron & GE Clocks, 1925-1955" in it you'll find a wealth of detail and pictures of literaly every Telechron produced
- I love this site, it's run by Mike Schultz...I guess I kind of long for what it represents. Here you'll find an amazing collection of radios, clocks, tubes and generally great stuff made, well, back when we still made things
- This guy has a nice collection of Hammond -"spin to start" clocks
- Nice coverage of 20th century clock manufacturers and clock history
- This guy has a fantastic personal collection of Hammond clocks, with many very nice Onyx examples
- A very nice site for electric clocks with a number of manuals and many other links
- A nice collection for those interested in westclock, the vintage westclock site even has a section devoted to exposing fradulent copies. A great place to go if you want to identify your clock as well.
Really good resources and general mechanical clock links:
- This guys site is absolutely packed with reference material for those interested in clocks: Mark Headrick's Horology Page
- The Abbey Clock website is about modern and antique clock repair and is a massive site full well worth a good long look. You can see exactly how clock escapments work, even arrange for repairs for your own non-functioning mechanical clocks.
- One of my favorite sites is Magnificient Time Machines, it's a huge site with incredibly detailed photography of unique mechanical timepieces. He specializes in restoration and has shots of many different clocks he's tackled including clock towers, the kind that used to be common in city squares. You have to see some of these to believe them, absolute pieces of art.
Pocket Watch resources:
- Many of the pocket watch images in my screen saver and desktop clocks software are: "reproduced by kind permission of Pieces of Time". You may find some of the actual watches still for sale at their site: Pieces Of Time, it's absolutely first rate and well worth your visit.
- No list of classic pocket watches would be complete without a listing of the Antiquorum auction site, and though I don't use any of their images they have some stunning examples of pocket watch craftsmanship going back hundreds of years
- There are a number of good reference sites for pocket watches. Here is one for "Illinois" pocket watches. If you back up a bit to their home page they sell them as well...
Miscellaneous Links:
- For a wonderful movie some weekend, pick up the DVD set (a couple of disks) Longitude. This is an A&E production that start Jeremy Irons and outlines the history of the quest to solve the problem of longitude and how it was ultimately conquered not by the royal society and thier astronomers but by a humble country carpenter (John Harrison) turned clock manufacturer
- Interesting reference for aircraft clocks: Aircraft Clocks of the World
- This is a good page of links to time and clock related terms and subjects: Horology - The Index
- Of course I like to throw in the Naval Observatory since it has historic relevance and the atomic clock: The U.S. Naval Observatory Web site