customwallclocksdirect.com Blog

Can Anything Be Made Into A Clock?

2006-03-20T11:04-05:00

Clocks come in all shapes and sizes from tiny pocket watches to large intricately carved grandfather clocks to the famous Big Ben in London. It seems like clocks have been constantly evolving since they first were invented in the form of ancient sundials and obelisks by the Sumerians and Egyptians.

These days with the advances in technology and the availability of super small batteries clocks can seemingly be made out of anything. It doesn’t matter what you home décor is, there is some way to custom make a clock to go along with it.

This is no more true than with the explosion in popularity of wall clocks. One need only go to a local flea market or just get online and look at the plethora of wall clocks available for sale today.

One of the most popular types of wall clocks available today is the carved wood clock that can be formed and customized to display anything you desire. For a Southwest themed home you could choose a wall clock shaped like an arrow with a Native American painting embossed upon it.

Other popular wall clocks include those with company logos from such famous companies as Harley Davidson and the Miller Beer company. These novelty clocks are becoming valuable collector’s items as well with older clocks bringing in sizeable sums of money.

Another use for clocks that has become quite prevalent lately is the integration of a clock into a trophy or plaque making something that may otherwise just be placed in a box a useful item that is happily displayed in one’s home.

Do you have a hobby? You can have a clock made out of a football, a basketball, even a golf ball!

Another thing that has made clocks easily customizable today is the invention of plastics and other moldable materials which allows greater customization of a diverse amount of items. There is almost nothing that cannot be made into some type of clock whether it is a mantel clock, desk clock or a wall clock.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. Get a custom wall clock from http://www.customwallclocksdirect.com

Are You Cuckoo For Cuckoo Clocks?

2006-03-17T08:35-05:00

Are You Cuckoo For Cuckoo Clocks?

Cuckoo clocks are popular with many people and are one of the most collected of all clocks. I know my grandmother had a house full of them.

Cuckoo clocks are usually pendulum clocks that strike on the hour using small bellows and whistles imitating the Cuckoo bird and also striking a gong.

Cuckoo clocks were invented in the Black Forest of Germany in the town of Schönwald by Franz Ketterer in 1738. When he first started making the clocks he implemented a system of small bellows and whistles imitaint the Cuckoo and just placed them in a regular Dutch clock. The shapes that we see now of the birdhouse or chalet came as later refinements. The design of a cuckoo clock is now conventional. Most are made in the shape of a rustic birdhouse or chalet. They hang on the wall, and are housed in wooden cases, frequently decorated with carved leaves; sometimes deer and other animals are added. Most now have an automaton of the bird that appears through a small trap door when the clock is striking, and vanishes behind the door after the clock is done.

The bird is often made to move while the clock strikes, usually by means of an arm that lifts the back of the carving. Some Cuckoo clocks have musical movements, and play a tune on a music box before striking the hours or half-hours. Musical cuckoo clocks frequently have other automated creatures that move when the music box plays. The clocks are almost always weight driven; a very few cuckoo clocks are spring driven.

The production center of Cuckoo clocks continues to be in the Black Forest region of Germany, in the area of Triberg and Neustadt. The Cuckoo clock is often wrongly associated with Switzerland, as in the movie The Third Man. In the US, this error is probably due to a story by Mark Twain in which the hero depicts the Swiss town of Lucerne as the home of cuckoo clocks.

Recently, fake quartz battery powered cuckoo clocks have been marketed widely which do not have genuine cuckoo bellows, and typically generate their striking sounds electronically which sound electronic as well. The weights are traditionally cast in the shape of pine cones. The pendulum bob is usually another carved leaf. The dial is small, and typically marked with Roman numerals.

Cuckoo clocks can be a great conversation piece and quality clocks are sought out as collector’s items.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. Check out the quality wall clocks at http://www.customwallclocksdirect.com

A Look Back In Time At Early Clocks

2006-03-16T08:43-05:00

According to scientists humans have been on the planet for millions of years but it wasn’t until a few thousand years ago that some of the ancient civilizations saw the need to know the time of day. It is believed that this became necessary due to the growing religious events and social activities.

One culture that disappeared without leaving behind its developed knowledge was that of the ancient Sumerians but it is believed that the Egyptians began to partition off their day by building obelisks which worked similar to a sundial dividing the day into morning and afternoon. This eventually evolved into a more accurate time keeper with markers around the base to show other divisions of time. The Egyptians are also credited with the development of the sundial which was a portable timepiece. The sundial separated the day into ten parts plus allowed for two twilight hours in the morning and evening.

So what it is that makes something a clock and not just something that casts shadows? One thing necessary to be considered a clock is a repetitive process to show equal divisions of time. The second component that must be present is a way to track the measurements of time and displaying the result.

Another method of timekeeping was the use of water clocks with one of the earliest being found in the tomb of Amenhotep 1 who died around 1500 BC. The ancient Greeks began using them about 1200 years later designing stone vessels with sloping sides allowing the water to drop at a constant rate from a small hole in the bottom. There were measurements marked on the inside of the vessels to delineate the amount of time that had passed. These clocks continued to be used in North Africa well into the 20^th century.

Andronikos, a Macedonian astronomer devised a time keeping device he called the Horologion which is now known as the Tower Of The Winds. He constructed the device in the marketplace of Athens around the middle of the first century BC. The device featured sundials and mechanical hour indicators and even displayed the seasons of the year along with astrological dates as well.

The Chinese developed a mechanized clock with one of the most sophisticated being built by Su Sung in 1088. This tower was over thirty feet tall and included an observation deck, an automatically rotating globe and tablets that showed the hour of the day as well as other special times.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For a great selection of wall clocks go to http://www.customwallclocksdirect.com