North Coast Imports, Inc.

This beautiful piece is one of those long-term projects (like the 10,000 year clock ) that we just love to follow. Clock expert Mark Frank's clock was featured in some clock magazines and blogs, and here is a great little YouTube video showing it off.   From Mark's Blog: This is a four train, quarter striking movement with the fourth train driving the astronomical systems. The escapement is based on Harrison's H1 design and is driven by dual swinging-frame remontoire. The clock's functions include: 400 year perpetual calendar, equation of time, sidereal time, sun/moon rise and set, moon's phase and age, tides, solar/lunar eclipses, planisphere, tellurium, and full-featured orrery to Saturn with functional moons. There will be over 20 complications.

We uploaded the lecture on Longitude that was presented as part of Clocktoberfest. Here it is on YouTube!

This post is a bit late, but is interesting enough to read anyway. J. Edwards at Tick Talk gives a nice history of the tradition of dropping the ball on New Year's Eve. Here is an excerpt: Although it’s arguably the most famous of ball drops, the concept of dropping a ball from a pinnacle point in the city to mark a precise point in time isn’t a Times Square first. The practice dates back almost 100 years earlier than the first Times Square ball drop. Initially conceived by Robert Wauchope, of England, time balls were used to synchronize the deck watches and ship chronometers of Navy vessels, who depended on accurate timekeepers to help them navigate longitudinally. Learn more about methods to discover Longitude on our blog here or on our / museum website

We have some beautiful new photographs of our rare "K. Mozer" Carriage Clocks. These very fine pieces were made by L'Epee when they were located in their London Factory. There were very few pieces made by the artisan clockmakers in London under the famous L'Epee standards of excellence. L'Epee carriage clocks have since been adopted by a Swiss factory that also produces the Matthew Norman line. We are pleased to make available the Ovale and the Dauphine which are some of the very few collectible pieces that were produced in England, by English clockmakers. While the British clockmaking industry was (at one time) the best in the world, their output has since become very small and very collectible. You can easily see, from our new pictures and video, the tremendous quality of these pieces. Take a moment to appreciate the impeccable tradition of British Horology!

My good friend is an industrial scientist - he just sent me an email with the following quote: The clock, not the steam engine, is the key-machine of the modern industrial age. Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) He wanted a horologist's view on the statement. I immediately thought of how modern industry is so inextricably geared towards efficiency.  The quote brought to mind Fritz Lang's movie Metropolis... I thought of New York's subway system and automated assembly lines and factories all timed to work much like a clock. The clock is of course not an 'invention' of the modern industrial age though. To me, the horological development that would have made the clock so important to the modern work force and efficiency planning is the minute hand - which is credited to appear at about 1475.   But then again, if you consider the importance of travel (which leads to discovery and trade) then you can't overlook the impact of John Harrison's work in developing a clock acc...

Dubbed the strangest clock in the world, it features a giant grasshopper and has 60 slits cut into its face which light up to show the time. Its creator John Taylor said he "wanted to make timekeeping interesting". BBC That's pretty much NCI's mantra - "Making timekeeping interesting." In addition to our own clocks, it's great to find extravagant works of horological art being produced throughout the world. This one is pretty fascinating. Although it has LED lights and an electric winding motor, it is otherwise all mechanical with a grasshopper escapement. By the way, our new cuckoo clock catalog should be finished printing by Friday. Make sure we have your favorite clock or jewelry or gift store on file so that they will receive our new catalog.