North Coast Imports, Inc.

Thanks to the creative people at ReadyMade Magazine for noticing our Classic Space cuckoo from our NEW /design line.

Our friend Bill Maier has recently started his own blog to document his impressive collection of rare, antique "Vienna" Regulator Timepieces. Here's a particularly stellar example from his collection: Gilded bronze skeletonized laterndluhr by Fertbauer, C. 1810. Overall height 67". Seconds beating, knife edge suspension riding on a gimbal. The gimbal is held by two L shaped brackets through the front plate of the movement, typical Fertbauer design, sweep seconds with sub dials of minutes, hours, and date. Stay tuned for more input from this great collection! [via ViennaRegulators.org ]

From ScienceDaily : The world's most precise clock - on which all time-keeping and navigation systems are based - might be made as small as a wristwatch with a new design proposed by an international team of physicists. A new class of atomic clocks of at least equivalent accuracy could be made much smaller and simpler by trapping aluminium, gallium, cesium or rubidium atoms in a lattice of laser light operated at a specific "magic" wavelength, according to a new theory put forward by physicists at the University of Nevada, in the US, and the University of New South Wales.

Cesium has been the element of choice, thus far, for the most accurate clocks. It is in use in our civilian time standard. But make way, Cesium: An experimental atomic clock based on ytterbium atoms is about four times more accurate than it was several years ago, giving it a precision comparable to that of the NIST-F1 cesium fountain clock, the nation's civilian time standard, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report in Physical Review Letters. This photo shows about 1 million ytterbium atoms illuminated by a blue laser in an experimental atomic clock that holds the atoms in a lattice made of intersecting laser beams. The photo was taken with a digital camera through the window of a vacuum chamber. NIST is studying the possible use of ytterbium atoms in next-generation atomic clocks based on optical frequencies, which could be more stable and accurate than today's best time standards, which are based on microwave frequencies. (Credit: Barb...

A Binary Clock is a way of displaying the digital time in binary code. For example... Reading a BCD clock: Add the values of each column of LEDs to get six decimal digits. There are two columns each for hours, minutes and seconds. Here's a fun interpretation of the idea from Instructibles : The Flock Clock uses male and female drinking birds to display time. Binary addition of the female birds (left to right) yields the hour. Binary addition of the male birds (multiplied by five) yields the minute--within five minutes. An Arduino processor provides the signals needed to drive Peltier cells which heat the fluid in the birds and causes the bobbing motion. Here are some other Binary Clock projects by intrepid electronic experimenters, including an analog one. [via Makezine ]

We, at North Coast Imports, love the idea of new and artistic displays of important information. After all, this is the essence of a mechanical clock! Here's a great example from Sean Carney : I took an old clock, removed the mechanism and replaced it with an Arduino (micro-controller) that checks the weather on the Environment Canada website every fifteen minutes and update the hands accordingly. It also has a web server so I can check the weather and update the settings from a web browser. Via: Makezine

Here's a great design, won the NAWCC 2009 Craft Contest, First Place and People's Choice Awards. From Bower Clock Company : "The Vinion was completed in May 2009 and was awarded People's Choice in the Craft Competition of the National Association of Watch And Clock Collectors 2009 National Convention. Nathan Bowers also was awarded first place in the single train clock category. The intricate spoke design was created by Nathan and each gear was hand pierced using a jeweler's saw. There are over 420 piercings in the clock's gears, weight shell and pulley mechanism. An Invar 36 pendulum rod and maintaining power wheel add to the accuracy of this 10 day, weight driven clock. The case style, similar to that of the Solyn, was designed by Nathan Bowers and built in conjunction with Pete Norris. It is made from Bubinga wood."