# What clock should I hang in my office/technical lab?



## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

My old radiowave "atomic" clock from a big box retailer recently died and I'd like to replace it with something more... characteristic of my love of all things mechanical. I can buy digital clocks all day long and even quartz "mechanical" clocks from all the retailers but I value durability of design and function over the dumbing down of production line plastic movements that wear out after a couple years use. 

What say the collective regarding a proper wall clock for a lab/industrial environment? My thoughts are leaning toward the old wall clocks that would hang in shop class at school, or the clock at the head of the bays during boot camp... very easily readable from any angle and from a distance, accurate, no chime, and I don't have to replace a battery every 6 months to a year.


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## dirtvictim (Mar 9, 2006)

Saw a cool IWC clock that would be nice


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## TWarnke (Feb 21, 2021)

Though it's a bit pricey, what about the JLC clocks?


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## rationaltime (May 1, 2008)

advcyclist said:


> What say the collective regarding a proper wall clock for a lab/industrial environment? My thoughts are leaning toward the old wall clocks that would hang in shop class at school, or the clock at the head of the bays during boot camp... very easily readable from any angle and from a distance, accurate, no chime, and I don't have to replace a battery every 6 months to a year.


Those old clocks were line powered, and school clocks were also 
updated by a central master clock.

You might start by searching for "AC powered clock".

I have this with a remote digital display.









GPS receivers can be found for reasonable on ebay. This one 
is ESE. So search for "ESE clock". The remote displays tend 
to have ambitious pricing, but occasionally a reasonable one 
will show up. ESE makes mechanical analog slave clocks that 
can also run stand alone, but I think new a 12 inch slave of that
brand is about $500. Understand these are aimed at commercial
users like studios rather than consumers. There are other brands,
but this illustrates the idea.


Thanks,
rationaltime


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

rationaltime said:


> Those old clocks were line powered, and school clocks were also
> updated by a central master clock.
> 
> You might start by searching for "AC powered clock".
> ...


Yeah, I have a similar old school digital clock in one of my test racks that is from an old thermocouple testing unit leftover from the previous building occupants. It does tell time, but just doesn't have the same presence as a wall clock with an analog face. 










I'm thinking along the lines of the old Simplex, GE, Honeywell, et al AC powered clocks from when we all watched them slow down as the school day progressed.


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## Grasshopperglock (Jul 31, 2021)

The old tried and true, Chicago Lighthouse, government wall clock.


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## rationaltime (May 1, 2008)

advcyclist said:


> Yeah, I have a similar old school digital clock in one of my test racks that is from an old thermocouple testing unit leftover from the previous building occupants. It does tell time, but just doesn't have the same presence as a wall clock with an analog face.
> 
> View attachment 16395507
> 
> ...


Search ebay for "slave clock". One issue with those old slave clocks
is many of them can only set the time with a remote sync signal.
I suppose that could provide an opportunity to exercise your skills.

Modern master/slave clock systems use a digital time code, but
many of the slave clocks can continue to keep time if the master
signal is lost. They may have a way to set the time locally. The
slave clocks tend to be expensive though.

I don't have one. The analog versions look like this.










Thanks,
rationaltime


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## Mr.Regulator (12 mo ago)

I've been extremely please with the performance of some of the Korean 31-day wind-up clocks. These use a modified dead-beat escapement and really do keep excellent time. (More accurate than my Seiko 5 !) The Strike mode might be a bit much for a lab setting, if so simply don't wind the LH key. 

I've had one over my work bench in the basement which was wound on no particular schedule. The time keeping was right on the money over the course of 3 years. Three weeks ago I took it in to my volunteer job because the quartz clocks we had kept dying. It's a $35 clock, so I figured big deal if it gets stolen. And everyone seems to be getting a kick out of having a "tick-tock" clock in the office. 

It fits all the criteria: inexpensive, different, won't require a lot of attention to maintain or wind, and handsome enough for the office. The down-side is that they can be on the loud side, but there are solutions to that.

Hope this helps.


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## John MS (Mar 17, 2006)

If a shelf display would work a nixie tube clock would have lots of retro tech appeal. Several interesting models in both complete and kit forum.


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## Hollywood Quiet (Apr 29, 2021)

Jlc vintage Atmos. Approx $400


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

Mr.Regulator said:


> I've been extremely please with the performance of some of the Korean 31-day wind-up clocks. These use a modified dead-beat escapement and really do keep excellent time. (More accurate than my Seiko 5 !) The Strike mode might be a bit much for a lab setting, if so simply don't wind the LH key.
> 
> I've had one over my work bench in the basement which was wound on no particular schedule. The time keeping was right on the money over the course of 3 years. Three weeks ago I took it in to my volunteer job because the quartz clocks we had kept dying. It's a $35 clock, so I figured big deal if it gets stolen. And everyone seems to be getting a kick out of having a "tick-tock" clock in the office.
> 
> ...


Good looking clock, but quite a bit more formal than needs to be hanging in an electrical test lab. I could totally see that in my home office though.


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

John MS said:


> If a shelf display would work a nixie tube clock would have lots of retro tech appeal. Several interesting models in both complete and kit forum.


No good shelves to get good view from all the angles in the lab; it really needs to be wall hung. Good suggestion though; I do dig the Nixie clocks!


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## evvyou (Feb 26, 2020)

i got one at IKEA today. simple and easy to read. cost like $10


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## OogieBoogie (Oct 3, 2021)

You could look for an obsolete clock from a train station or bank or the like. I'm not sure where you'd find them in US but here they come up in auction rooms. There's probably something on eBay or Etsy, I found these in UK:


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

OogieBoogie said:


> You could look for an obsolete clock from a train station or bank or the like. I'm not sure where you'd find them in US but here they come up in auction rooms. There's probably something on eBay or Etsy, I found these in UK:
> View attachment 16403172
> View attachment 16403173


Nice, I do like that industrial commonality aesthetic.


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## Mr.Regulator (12 mo ago)

advcyclist said:


> Good looking clock, but quite a bit more formal than needs to be hanging in an electrical test lab. I could totally see that in my home office though.


I worked in an electrical research lab myself for a decade. So I have a pretty good idea of your environment.

The Koreans and even the Chinese offered these in EVERY conceivable style because they were mainly selling them through decorating stores. You don't need to be stuck with the one that landed in my lap.

By style, guess which one of these is oriental ??









And like I said they all sell for ridiculously low prices.

All the best.


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## OogieBoogie (Oct 3, 2021)

I enjoyed an hour down the Etsy rabbit hole on this. 

I liked the look of this double sided 18cm ships slave clock, converted to run on AA batteries, it would go nicely down the side of my house. Really tempted to get it but I think Mrs Oogie wouldn't be impressed with yet another clock, and I think it's a little expensive at £260










And this requiring manual wind (several variations on this theme):


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## caribiner23 (Apr 20, 2021)

I would look for a design you really like and then replace the movement with an atomic set from a site like klockit.com. 

When I was clearing out my parents' house I took the clock my dad had hanging in his workshop, cleaned it up, and replaced the movement. Now it hangs in my office.


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

OogieBoogie said:


> I enjoyed an hour down the Etsy rabbit hole on this.
> 
> I liked the look of this double sided 18cm ships slave clock, converted to run on AA batteries, it would go nicely down the side of my house. Really tempted to get it but I think Mrs Oogie wouldn't be impressed with yet another clock, and I think it's a little expensive at £260
> 
> ...


Man, I really dig that Seiko; that would be an excellent eyecatcher!


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## journeyforce (Apr 20, 2013)

How about staying modern?

I use a Seiko Spacelink GPS clock in my home office. This is part of a line of Japanese market Seiko clocks geared towards businesses and folks who cannot get a radio signal clock to work due to interference of signals. These clocks will sync with the GPS satellites as long as the clock is within 50 feet of a window. So it does not have to be right near a window. it could be deep in a walk in closet with the door shut and as long as that closet is within 50 feet of a window it will sync fine. It has all the antennas built in to the clock so no need to run wires anywhere. It runs for about 3 years on C Batteries.

It also does DST on its own. When you first get the clock you set it up with the time zone, then you turn on the Auto DST option. Next you set it for the Start of DST and End of DST. It is set up by setting the month of DST start and DST end, then the day of the week and then the number of the week in the month. So being in the USA I set it up the following: DST Starts: second Sunday in March
DST End: first Sunday in November

In the event the US Govt, decided to move the DST month and day, I can reprogram it to reflect this

This DST thing corrects the one issue that GPS clocks and watches have. The inability to GPS sync DST since the satellites don't use DST

If you don't live in a place that uses DST, just leave the Auto DST option off

The Spacelink clock lineup is made up of two digital clocks (the wall clock and a table clock) and analog clocks.

They can be a bit pricy. The wall clock cost about $200 with shipping from Japan but well worth it to not have to touch it for several years and then after the batteries are replaced you don't have to reset it as it has a built in memory. It also has a low battery feature.

Here are my Spacelink wall clock and my Spaceling table clock (can be used as an alarm clock)


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## flyingpicasso (Jun 28, 2010)

How about a Swiss railway clock? Iconic and really cool looking.


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## rationaltime (May 1, 2008)

flyingpicasso said:


> How about a French railway clock? Iconic and really cool looking.
> View attachment 16429674


*Swiss* railway clock

The logo of Swiss Federal Railways – national railway company of Switzerland










Thanks,
rationaltime


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## flyingpicasso (Jun 28, 2010)

rationaltime said:


> *Swiss* railway clock
> 
> The logo of Swiss Federal Railways – national railway company of Switzerland
> View attachment 16431640
> ...


Haha, thank you, @rationaltime. Not sure what I was thinking, but post has been corrected.


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

advcyclist said:


> ...
> 
> What say the collective regarding a proper wall clock for a lab/industrial environment? My thoughts are leaning toward the old wall clocks that would hang in shop class at school, or the clock at the head of the bays during boot camp... very easily readable from any angle and from a distance, accurate, no chime, and I don't have to replace a battery every 6 months to a year.


A proper public clock needs to service the increasing number of people who can not read face-hands clock faces. Sorry. True fact. Ergo: wall clock needs to be digital.


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## OogieBoogie (Oct 3, 2021)

Eeeb said:


> A proper public clock needs to service the increasing number of people who can not read face-hands clock faces. Sorry. True fact. Ergo: wall clock needs to be digital.


You could make that argument for a truly public clock, but not for an office. I'm not employing anyone who can't learn to read an office clock, because obviously they can't learn anything new work wise either.


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## ned-ludd (Apr 8, 2017)

I think the argument for public clocks being digital is more to do with cost, ease of maintenance and accuracy than whether the public can read analog clocks.


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

Eeeb said:


> A proper public clock needs to service the increasing number of people who can not read face-hands clock faces. Sorry. True fact. Ergo: wall clock needs to be digital.


I reject your reality and substitute my own, analog, reality...


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

OogieBoogie said:


> You could make that argument for a truly public clock, but not for an office. I'm not employing anyone who can't learn to read an office clock, because obviously they can't learn anything new work wise either.


Oh, I'm less confident than you. Most of the kids who can't read analog clock faces end up working in offices. And don't ask them to dial a phone either!! LOL


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

Clock found and purchased! Just gotta wait on its delivery...


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## OogieBoogie (Oct 3, 2021)

Looking forward to seeing it in situ!


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## John MS (Mar 17, 2006)

Pics please!!!


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## Monitor (Jan 9, 2022)

__





Modern wall clock with mechanical movement from AMS AM H301 - 8 day running time - Nr. AM H301


Shop authentic German cuckoo clocks from the Black Forest. Our original cuckoo clocks for sale have a warranty & shipped globally.



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consider building an acrylic enclosure


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## advcyclist (Mar 2, 2018)

I still have a few searches out for an older clock that really jives with my lab, but this will do for the... time... being.


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## Orhorolgy (Sep 4, 2009)

I really like both of these clocks. I wouldn't mind having either one installed in our covered patio.



OogieBoogie said:


> I enjoyed an hour down the Etsy rabbit hole on this.
> 
> I liked the look of this double sided 18cm ships slave clock, converted to run on AA batteries, it would go nicely down the side of my house. Really tempted to get it but I think Mrs Oogie wouldn't be impressed with yet another clock, and I think it's a little expensive at £260
> 
> ...


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## Jamespreillyii (May 16, 2018)

I just bought one of these for my shops office kinda reminded me of a watch face and liked the subdials for temp and humidity


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