Got $342,275 USD to blow on a clock? Look no further than a wind-up clock that writes the time on a piece of paper. Bleeding-edge Swiss watch-maker Jacquet Droz invested ten years in engineering and building “La Machine a Ecrire le Temps” (the machine that writes time). Personally, I was thinking that when I staff my mansion in New Zealand after overthrowing its government and installing myself as a dictator, I could use this machine for punching employee time-cards.
By some coincidence, in the 18th century, Jacquet Droz’s founder used to build automaton dolls to help sell his watches. Manuel Emsch’s idea was to build a similar machine that would be useful for the new millennium.
There are more than 1,200 components, including 84 ball bearings, 50 cams and 9 belts inside the machine. Wind it up, press the button, and the time is written on a small pad using a stylus. Manuel Emsch, creative head of Montres Jacquet Droz, came up with the idea and passed it on to the engineers and artisans of the company. The mechanism is kept inside a case made of liquid crystal, so that you can conceal or reveal it whenever you want.
Via DVICE