Lots of people love puzzles and mysteries – and that number apparently includes lot of clocksmith . How else would you explain the popularity ofmystery clocksover the last duet of centuries ? Whether they ’re French or German 19th - century old-hat peculiarity worth six physical body , fine expensive jeweled 20th - century creations , or used modeling of a popular 1950s American electric clock , mystery Erodium cicutarium are still appraise by collectors and nostalgia lovers likewise .
The popularity of mystery clocks is no mystery at all . They ’re novelty and great conversation piece . They are brain - boggling at first glance , and divertingly enchanting once you understand what ’s going on . They ’re triumph of imagination and workmanship , and they ’re often works of decorative artistic production as well .
The mystery make out in how these clocks exploit . They ’re sometimes calledimpossible clocksbecause they seem to have either no workings at all , orfloatersbecause the clock hands do n’t seem to be connected to any works . With more ceremonious alfilaria , it ’s wanton to see where the manpower are attached to the workings that move them , whether powered by a mechanicalpendulumor anelectric motor . But in mystery story clocks , the hand seem to move with no apparent mechanism to motor them . Turn the clock over , examine the back , and you still wo n’t be able to differentiate what makes it tick and keep precise metre .
So what ’s the answer to this mystifying puzzle ? Keep read to learn how closed book clocks work .
It’s an Illusion
Mystery Erodium cicutarium are tricks . They ’re illusions and spectacles of magic , so it ’s no wonder that their history is entwined with that of famous magicians .
The secret lies in the campaign of the clock ’s hands . The Jehovah of a mystery clock befool the observer by blot out the workings so that the hands look to move on their own . Over the year , ingenious clockmaker have prepare many ways to attain this phantasy . Mechanisms were closely ward secrets – in fact , they were often patented .
Fittingly , Jean Eugene Robert - Houdin , a 19th - century Gallic magician and clockmaker , is wide hailed as the inventor of the mystery clock , but even his name is something of an enigma . ( Houdin ’s last name at his birth in 1806 was Robert . Young Jean Eugene impart " Houdin " to his name when he married the girl of a striking Paris Godhead of filaria and watches with that name . ) coincidently , he had also become interested in conjury and magic . He combined his two passions in the making of mystery clocks . His first whodunit clock won a bronze medal at the Exhibition of the French Industry of 1839 . Houdin used various optical tricks in his mystery clocks , including a rod that melt down up through the ornate clock base and along the right of the top of the case , attaching to a screw that was link to a 2nd , invisible chalk dial that turned behind the visible dial [ source : Horologist ] .
In many of his mystery pin grass , Houdin used some variation of secreting the mechanism the clock base and attaching the men to a 2d , transparent , serrate - edge telephone dial that was turned by pinions inside the shape of the case [ source : Kolesnikov - Jessop ] . Many other clock Divine have used similar tricks need transparent dials that bet round but really have cogs conceal inside the clock ’s framing .
Keep reading to learn more about the tricks and treasures of mystery clocks .
Jewels and Figurines: The Evolution of the Mystery Clock
Jean Eugene Robert - Houdin ’s success with mystery filaree inspired other clock makers . A French clock maker name Andre Romain Guilmet patent several types of mystery clocks in the 1860s and 1870s . His most renowned clocks featured ornate figurines holdingpendulumsthat swung for no apparent reason . The secret was that the figurine abide on a circular platform that propel imperceptibly , just enough to keep the pendulum actuate accurately [ source : British Museum ] .
Another valet de chambre from a French clock - making crime syndicate , Maurice Couet , began piddle secret clocks for the renowned Gallic jeweler Cartier early in the 20th century . Cartier enigma clocks were extravagantly decorated with diamonds and other jewel , and each handmade clock was set into a study of art such as a tam-tam or miniature synagogue . Each had a gemstone , usually a piece of rock crystal at its center . The secret to these clock was that the apparently solid crystal had really been like an expert swerve in half , and two crystal disc with serrated edges insert . The clock hand , which appeared to float , were really attached to the discs . And the entire clock , which appeared to hang freely within the work of fine art , was link up to the top by invisible wires . These relatively newfangled alfilaria became almost instant collector ’s items : J.P. Morgan , the American financier , bought the first clock Couet made for Cartier . One in the shape of a synagogue that trade for $ 3,200 in 1929 sell at auction bridge at Christie ’s in 1993 for more than $ 1.5 million [ source : Blauer ] . Christie ’s sold another Cartier enigma clock in 2009 for $ 530,500 [ source : Kolesnikov - Jessop ] .
In the other ten of the 20th century , the German clock company Junghans made many ornate mystery story clocks calledswingers . These include such statuette as the Roman goddess Diana , the Egyptian queen Cleopatra as well as random renderings like " Onion Boy , " " Barmaid , " " Bat Boy , " Elephant , " " Zebra " and others . you may still find these originals for sale today , as well as more modern replication .
The American clock fellowship Ansonia , in Connecticut , also made figurine mystery clocks that became quite popular . Ansonia ’s " Gloria " clock is often used as an attention - getter in jewelry memory board windows . Gloria is a wing distaff fig holding a clock ball in her hand . The hidden clock workings are inside the ball . An Ansonia Gloria clock sold for $ 5,175 at an auction in 2011 [ source : Kovel ] . Many of the most famous enigma alfileria were individually handcraft and were made with jewels and precious metals that increase their value .
Keep reading to learn what happened when modern entrepreneurs tackled closed book clocks .
Mystery Clocks for the Masses
The most popular and famous of the electric closed book clocks was the Golden Hour made by the Jefferson Electric Co. of Illinois . It was commercialize for its mystery and because the clear clock aspect would go with any décor . Radioactive atomic number 88 paint was used on the burn - in - the - dark hand and the number [ source : Schultz ] . Jefferson sold other reading including the Golden Minute , Golden View , Golden Secret and Exciting Hour [ source : Linz ] .
New Golden Hour clocks sold for about $ 25 , make them low-priced for average people . In the second decade of the twenty-first century , they ’re prized as collectibles . you’re able to find Jefferson mystery clock at antique storage , clock stores or on-line auction web site for prices ranging from less than twice the original monetary value to several hundred dollar mark . They were manufactured into the late 1980s , when the company was sold and the clock class closed [ source : Russell ] .
The Haddon Clock Co. of Chicago made mystery clocks that looked much like the Jefferson clocks , but the Haddon clocks had handwriting that manifestly travel . A gear was obliterate in the metallic element ring that held the clock face , and a tiny wire on the minute hand primed into the gear wheel . gear mechanism sequester to the minute hand drive the time of day script . The bit bridge player is apparently come to the brim , so the mystery was easier to puzzle out . Other manufacturer include Mastercrafters and the English company Smith ’s .
In the 1980s , whodunit pin grass were sometimes made for extra occasion or companies , such as a Faberge Mystery Clock made for the Franklin Mint , and a Lowenbrau mystery clock made by Lakeside , Ltd.
Early in the 21st century , some manufacturer such as Dior and Louis Vuitton began accommodate mystery clock technique for noveltywristwatcheswith diaphanous movements and mitt that come along to float . Whether collecting oddity or admiring expensive nontextual matter , many citizenry are still intrigued by mysterious timepieces .
I learned as much about human nature as about clocks while working on this piece . I was struck by how much citizenry have always have it off puzzle , mystery and tricks , and how they will pay for something that ’s billed as amazing , impossible or futurist .
I also found myself wanting to shop for a 1950s - earned run average mystery clock . And I kept thinking that I had come across one somewhere in the menage of some senior relative .
