My Trip to Germany

I recently took a trip to Germany to meet with clockmakers and to choose and design NEW models that we will be featuring in the near future. Here are some sneak peaks...



















For more information, click on the pictures above, and send us an email! We can set you up with your favorite clock dealer.

A Book For The Birds

Here's a new book, recommended by Dug North at the Automata Blog:

This unique book traces the evolution of singing birds from antiquity to modern times, with particular attention to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the "Golden Age" of mechanical singing birds - Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Rochat were the most famous artists of this period - the first part of the book deals with the transformation of singing birds during the Renaissance period into an instrument of bird imitation during the 17th and 18th centuries - rich color iconography of subjects selected from museums and private collections all over the world, with several yet unpublished pieces (over 500) - an indispensable reference for collectors, specialists and for those as yet unacquainted.

More Cool Automata

Here are some more cool automata found on the internets...

SHARMANKA (Russian for hurdy-gurdy) was founded by sculptor-mechanic Eduard Bersudsky and theatre director Tatyana Jakovskaya in St.Petersburg (Russia) in 1989. Audiences in many countries have been fascinated by its magic, and based in Glasgow since 1996 it has gained a reputation as one of the city's hidden treasures.

Spider Automaton

I love to point out new, artistic creations that are mechanical. Here's another great automaton found by the Automaton Blog.

Smoker

Lovers of cuckoo clocks undoubtedly know about the Erzgebirge Smoking Man.



Here's something very interesting. A kinetic sculpture or automata by Kristoffer Myskja (via adafruit via designboom) that conveniently smokes cigarettes so that you don't have to!

the mechanical sculptures of norweigan artist kristoffer myskja are all somewhat strange, but the strangest of all is the ‘smoking machine’, which literally smokes cigarettes. the artwork features a small device made from brass that most prominently features a ramp of cigarettes. each cigarette is gravity fed
onto a holder, where it is lit and slowly smoked by an air valve that is electrically driven. as the gears turn, the cigarette slowly disappears until only the filter is left. the machine then ejects the cigarette and ashes onto the floor below, loading the next one into the holder.

Repairing Big Ben

From the BBC:

Work is being carried out on the tower that houses Big Ben to repair damage to the clock's faces.

The glass faces are set in an iron frame on St Stephen's Tower, which is part of the Houses of Parliament, in central London.

Maintenance manager Mike McCann spoke to the BBC to explain how the famous monument is kept in perfect condition.

There's a little movie after the link!