North Coast Imports, Inc.

 Here's a great piece on accurate clocks. Give a listen! "My own personal opinion is that time is a human construct," says  Tom O'Brian . O'Brian has thought a lot about this over the years. He is America's official timekeeper at the  National Institute of Standards and Technology  in Boulder, Colorado."

I was able to see this display at the Frick last Summer. There are some really great historical examples of horology. There are some very early pieces on display, including a couple French-Revolution era pieces with " Decimal Time. " Check out the website , there are a few great videos there with lectures on early clocks.

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

Here's a nice article by Gary Brown of the CantonRep . It features my Uncle Schleutermann's clock, but with some interesting background...

As part of our Clocktoberfest celebration in Berea, Ohio, we are partnering with Baldwin Wallace University in presenting a special open house at the Burrell Memorial Observatory on Friday August 9, 2013 at 6:30. Dr. Edwin Meyer presents a lecture on The Marine Chronometer, The Key to Finding Longitude. The technological progress of humanity has come with a concomitant necessity for a more precise method to measure the passage of time. This was apparent when maritime travel for conquest, trade and exploration required a method to accurately determine the position of a ship at sea. A ship's latitude could be determined by the angle of the noonday sun, but the determination of a ship's longitude turned out to be the biggest technological challenge of the 18th Century. There were two paths to this achievement - navigation by the heavens and navigations by accurately measuring time. Dr. Meyer will tell the story of this race for the determination of longitude on the high s...

Because - admit it - you always wanted to know... [via Make ]

Our followers who appreciate clocks are also often lovers of automata and early robots. There is a great article at The Smithsonian Magazine on a short history of robot birds. There's also a great preceding post on the history of the cuckoo clock.  We at North Coast Imports have often pointed out the importance of the development of the cuckoo clock and it's eventual ancestral relation to the modern computer. Be sure to check out our website at www.NorthCoastImports.com/museum for a wealth of information on the history of clocks in general.  The Smithsonian article cites the work of Archytas of Tarentum (c. 350 B.C.) which included a mechanical wooden dove and flying, and of course the famous 18th Century automata from France and Switzerland.   [via  The Smithsonian Magazine ]

It turns out there is an antique replica  (PDF) in Sydney ! Made in 1887. [via Kugelbahn ]

We'll have a leap second at the end of this month. The last minute will have 61 seconds. But, not without controversy: From  Cosmos Magazine : The leap second has long caused debate among member countries of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with some arguing for it to be abolished in favour of the exclusive use of atomic time. Every time a second is added, the world's computers need to be manually adjusted, a costly practice that also boosts the risk of error. High-precision systems such as satellites and some data networks will have to factor in the leap second or risk provoking a calculation catastrophe. [via io9.com ]

Schiffer LTD . has just released a new book on the subject of Black Forest Horology. It promises to be a lovely book with great pictures and information on very rare clocks. You'll probably recognize a few clocks that have been featured here on GermanClocks.org, as well as our online museum at www.NorthCoastImports.com/museum . Pre-order Rare and Unusual Black Forest Clocks, by Justin Miller at the author's website.

From Wikipedia : Sidereal time /saɪˈdɪəriəl/ is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky. Briefly, a sidereal day is a "time scale that is based on the Earth's rate of rotation measured relative to the fixed stars."[1] From a given observation point, a star found at one location in the sky will be found at nearly the same location on another night at the same sidereal time. This is similar to how the time kept by a sundial can be used to find the location of the Sun. Just as the Sun and Moon appear to rise in the east and set in the west, so do the stars. Both solar time and sidereal time make use of the regularity of the Earth's rotation about its polar axis, solar time following the Sun while sidereal time roughly follows the stars. More exactly, sidereal time follows the vernal equinox, which is not quite fixed among the stars; Precession and nutation shift the equinox sl...

From New Scientist : "Clocks that gain or lose no more than a fraction of a second over the lifetime of the universe could be on the way, thanks to a technique for cutting through the "heat haze" that compromises the accuracy of today's instruments. The most accurate atomic clock we have now is regulated by the electrons of a single aluminium ion as they move between two different orbits with sharply defined energy levels. When an electron goes from the higher energy level to the lower it emits radiation of a precise frequency. That frequency is used to mark out time to an accuracy of better than 1 part in 1017, or 1 second in 3 billion years. That's pretty good, but it could be better. Infrared photons emanating from the background cause the two energy levels to shift by slightly different amounts..." [via io9 ]

Mike Simpson shows off his Civil War-era cuckoo clock at the National Archives at Atlanta in Morrow. He plans to bring the clock to "Civil War Treasures in Your Nation's Attic, " an "Antiques Roadshow"-like event that will be filmed April 16 at the National Archives at Atlanta. From Access Atlanta : Michael Simpson has a clock. It was made by the American Cuckoo Clock Co. of Philadelphia. With its fluted columns, the rosewood clock is reminiscent of a Greek temple. At its peak is a small door, no larger than a playing card, that pops open to reveal a tiny wooden bird, light blue with a dappled white breast. The clock has been in his family for more than a century. It was a gift to Aaron Simpson, who was barely more than a child when he joined a New Hampshire regiment as its drummer boy. He went off to war, came back and was presented with a handsome clock from his father, no doubt relieved that the youngster made it through the conflict intact.   Unlike ...

A show about a clock factory! ...also, check out the water clock!

From Space.com : The massive earthquake that struck northeast Japan Friday (March 11) has shortened the length Earth's day by a fraction and shifted how the planet's mass is distributed. A new analysis of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan has found that the intense temblor has accelerated Earth's spin, shortening the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds, according to geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Gross refined his estimates of the Japan quake's impact – which previously suggested a 1.6-microsecond shortening of the day – based on new data on how much the fault that triggered the earthquake slipped to redistribute the planet's mass. A microsecond is a millionth of a second. "By changing the distribution of the Earth's mass, the Japanese earthquake should have caused the Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds," Gross told SPACE.com in a...

James Ferguson (1710-1776) is known for designing orreries , or mechanical models of the Solar System. He was greatly admired by our national hero, and contemporary Thomas Jefferson and the staff at Monticello recently completed a beautiful reproduction of one of Ferguson's models. Check out our /museum pages for more information on the history of timekeeping, and similar mechanics. Check out more information on the great Monticello Blog! [Thanks to Charles Morrill.]

"Memento Mori" is a reminder of mortality. Our " All Are Mine " clock is an excellent modern example that is the result of a long tradition of clockmaker artisans who remind us that life is short, and all things must pass. This clock tells us a story. In the upper left part of the clock, you'll see a rich man (with his bags of money and fine suit). Just above the 12:00 position, there is a carving of a king, and to his right there is a carved figure of a monk. Underneath the dial are carved representations of the young and the old; and at the bottom you can see the world. The clock bears the inscription, Alle sind mein , or "All Are Mine." Whether you are a rich person, royalty, a man of the church, young and old, all around the world, Death will eventually come to collect you. At the top, astride the foliott balance, the personification of the End of Life swings to collect his harvest. Along with my previous post , here are more very fine exam...

Here's a very interesting piece that recently sold at the Antiquorum Auctions . Perfect for all of you Steampunks and Goths, this piece is nearly 400 years old! This is a very interesting fusee with chain, verge escapement, and plain steel two-arm balance without spring. From the Watchismo Blog : During the first minute, the skull's expression seems to smile, the second minute it seems to laugh, the next appears to scream and finally, the jaws snap shut, as if the skull were trying to bite something. At the same time, one of the snakes slowly sinks back down into one of the eye sockets, while the other slowly comes out of the other eye, before retracting suddenly, as the first snake again springs out from its eye-socket. And to view the time, just open up the skull cap! It sold recently for $135,000. Designed & built in 1610 by Nicolaus Schmidt der Junger (Augsburg, Germany) as a skull set on two crossed shinbones and mounted on a gilt brass tripod, the hinged skull cap (r...

There's a charming story at the Springfield Illinois State Journal-Register . A very nice turn-of-the-Century Bahnhäusle hangs on the wall of its maker's grandson. From the State Journal-Register : Charles Neuner was a craftsman and jeweler who emigrated from Germany to Springfield permanently in 1905. His shop, Neuner’s Reliable Jewelers, (slogan: “Gifts That Last Will Always Be Remembered”) was at 124 N. Fifth St. [in Springfield] until his death in 1954. Back in Germany, Charles worked for a German clock company. He handmade a cuckoo clock that he brought with him to Springfield. The clock was on the wall of the home on North Second Street where Charles and his wife, Pauline, lived.

Have you heard about Boilerplate ? A fantastic historical discovery has been made! From Boilerplate's website : Boilerplate was a mechanical man developed by Professor Archibald Campion during the 1880s and unveiled at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Built in a small Chicago laboratory, Boilerplate was a prototype soldier built for "preventing the deaths of men in the conflicts of nations". Although it was the only such prototype, Boilerplate was eventually able to exercise its proposed function in several combat actions. Boilerplate embarked on a series of expeditions to demonstrate its abilities, the most ambitious being a voyage to Antarctica. Boilerplate is one of history's great ironies, a technological milestone that remains largely unknown. Note: Although we are reasonably sure that (overall) this blog is pretty factual, we definitely make no guarantees on this particular post :)