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Monday, November 12, 2007

8 most famous world clocks

1) Undoubtedly Big Ben tops the list. Exactly with the first strike of Big Ben the entire planet sees a New Year in according to Universal Coordinated Time. In fact, the legendary Big Ben is the bell, the name of which is connected with interesting stories. The official version says that the bell was named in honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, the chief of the construction work. Being an impressively burly guy, the foreman was given the nickname Big Ben. The other version asserts that the bell gained its name from a boxerBenjamin Count who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria.

2) Then goes the Kremlin tower clock that was constructed in 1404. As the annals narrate the prototype of the Kremlin chimes was a clock with a mechanical figure of a man who stroke with a hammer into a bell. The ancient clock-face had no hands. Now the Kremlin tower clock rings the national anthem of Russia at midnight and at noon.

3) Speaking about the most unusual clock, the brick clock breaks all records. It is situated in Uzbekistan, one of the former USSR republics. It represents an extraordinary building that is called “world clock”. They consider that every year one brick falls off the walls of the building and when the last one falls down life on the earth will disappear.

4) Another example of the most uncommon clock is the one clock-face of which was made of the meteorite found in Greenland in 1897.

5) The biggest clock in the world is the astronomical one in St.Peter’s Cathedral in France. It was built in the 19 th century, its height is 12m, width – 9m, and it consists of 90000 parts.

6) The flower clock placed in “Rose building” in Hokkaido, Japan, has the biggest clock- face. It is 21 m in diameter and the length of the big hand is 8,5m.

7) The smallest watch is produced in Switzerland by the firm “Jeger le Cultr”. The length of the watch is a little more than 1 cm, the width – about 5cm, its weight is 7grams.

8) The most expensive watch was bought by an unknown person from South Africa in 1989. He paid 16 millions 4 thousand 392 pounds for “Caliber 89 ” (firm “Patek Philipp”). The most expensive pocket watch – not taking into consideration watch decorated with precious stones – is “Heaven at hand”, known to connoisseurs as “Packard”. It was manufactured in 1922 by “Patek Philipp” for James Packard, the American car magnate. The pocket watch had a gold frame. The peculiarity was that a perfect astronomical map was depicted on the enamel clock-face. The map showed the location of heavenly bodies over Packard’s native town – Woren, Ohio, USA – just in the same position that he could observe out of the window of his bedroom.

from here

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The Biggest Watch in the World

The oldest

The first mechanical clocks with the mechanism anchored were manufactured in China in 725 g. AD And Xing Liang and Lintszanem.

The oldest preserved in the world watches without the clock face are dated in 1386, or slightly before, and still continue to work. They are in the cathedral in Salisbury, England. In 1956, they restored. By the time they were over 498 years, served protikali citizens "and" a 500 million times.

Approximately to in 1335 Clock include WT Cathedral in Wales, United Kingdom. However, the man survived only their iron frame.

As in 1962 a copy was implemented semiugolnyh astronomical hours Giovanni de Doidi (1348 ... 1364).

The biggest clock

The largest in the world is astronomical clock in the cathedral of St. Peter, Beauvais, France, built in 1865 ... 1868 estimates. Consist of 90 thousand details of their height - 12.1 m, width-6.09 m, depth-2.7 m.

"Clock" Su-Sun built Kayfyne, China, in 1088 ... 1092 estimates. Had 20,3-ton bronze sphere armillyarnuyu to 1.52 tonnes of water. As in 1126 they moved to Beijing, installed on the tower height of 12.1 m, and is reported to history, they continued to work until in 1136

Clock size of 15.54 x 15.54 x 15.54 meters placed in the atrium and took in height 5 floors in the building "International garden plots" in Washington, USA. Controlled by computer, they go with an accuracy of 1 / 100 pp. Their weight-2 t. Highlights are 122 m neon tubes, for the installation of required 460 m where cable and wires. 12 light tubes at the base of machinery reported hours and minutes. Created sculptor John Seyferom, they also show time in the Sun zenith in 12 cities around the world.


The biggest Dial

The largest in the world Dial (diameter 21 m) from the flower hours set in the Rose Building "bidding" in the city of Hokkaido, Japan. Dial built Seiko company "for" company "and" Core Fudziso installed in June 1988, Length large arrows-8.5 m.

The largest in the world watches with 4 Dial posted on the premises of the company "Allen Bradlee" in Milwaukee, WI, USA. Each dial diameter of 12.28 m is, the length minute arrows - 6.09 m.

The biggest single-dial clock is octagonal clock "Beta" in Jersey, New Jersey, USA, with a diameter of 15.24 m and a length minute arrows 8.31 m. In 1989, they dismantled and moved from the building rekonstruiruemoy factory where they have been installed with in 1908 Plans to install them in new places.

Above all located hours from 4 Dial installed on the building "Williamsburg Savings Bank," in Brooklyn, New York, USA. They were at an altitude of 131 m.

Digital electronic clock with 2 Dial, rotating on the roof of a building "Teksas-bilding" in Fort Uerte, Texas, USA, are the size of 13.4 x 13.4 x 8.5 m.

The oldest pocket watch

The oldest clocks (portable chronometer) were made of iron around in 1504 Peter Genlaynom in Nuremberg, Germany.
The earliest watches

The first batch watch has been produced in in 1790 firm "Jacquet Droz and Lesho" in Geneva, Switzerland.

The biggest watches

"Clock" Suotch length 162 m, a diameter of 20 m, built by Thomas D. Feliu, were set 7 ... December 12, 1985 Building on the "Bank" in Madrid, Bilbao, Spain.

"The Clock" set by the Swiss pavilion at Expo 86 (May-October 1986) in Vancouver, Canada, weighed 35 tons and had a height of 24,3 m.

The biggest solar clock

The biggest solar clock "Samrat" Yangra have gnomona 27 m length and height of 36 m. They are built in in 1724 in Jaipur, India.

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