Seiko 100th Anniversary JDM Dealer Desk Clock
Sept 22, 2019 5:23:12 GMT -8
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Post by akable on Sept 22, 2019 5:23:12 GMT -8
I recently picked up a desk clock from Japan that has a distinctive design. It has a single hand at the top and a rotating disc with the 24 hours marked.
The design of the clock is styled after the traditional Japanese clock (wadokei). Included with the clock was a short brochure that describes the traditional timekeeping system. Before Japan adopted the western style of timekeeping in 1873, the Japanese timekeeping system had the time between sunrise and sunset and the time between sunset and sun rise each broken into six equal parts. This resulted in longer periods during the day in summer time and shorter day periods during the winter.
In the traditional system the periods were numbered between 9 and 4 for the day and night sections. These numbers are replicated on the inner section of the dial along with the traditional Zoidac symbols. On this clock the sections do not change in length but are just a reminder of the traditional timekeeping system.
The background for the clock is a pattern of 100 in the same design as the 100 at the top of the dial.
This 100 represents the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Hattori Watch store in 1881. The clock was provided as a gift to Japanese dealers in 1981 and there is a plaque on the back of the clock to indicate this.
Over the years I have seen examples of this clock in numerous Seiko dealers around the country often sitting on a high shelf at the back of a store or positioned away behind the counter.
Luckily this example is in excellent condition and is still in the original box with the original paperwork. One interesting thing to note is the movement in the clock has a quartz oscillator that operates at 4 MHz. I am not sure how common it is in clocks to have such a high frequency oscillator but this would obviously be unusual in a watch movement.
The design of the clock is styled after the traditional Japanese clock (wadokei). Included with the clock was a short brochure that describes the traditional timekeeping system. Before Japan adopted the western style of timekeeping in 1873, the Japanese timekeeping system had the time between sunrise and sunset and the time between sunset and sun rise each broken into six equal parts. This resulted in longer periods during the day in summer time and shorter day periods during the winter.
In the traditional system the periods were numbered between 9 and 4 for the day and night sections. These numbers are replicated on the inner section of the dial along with the traditional Zoidac symbols. On this clock the sections do not change in length but are just a reminder of the traditional timekeeping system.
The background for the clock is a pattern of 100 in the same design as the 100 at the top of the dial.
This 100 represents the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Hattori Watch store in 1881. The clock was provided as a gift to Japanese dealers in 1981 and there is a plaque on the back of the clock to indicate this.
Over the years I have seen examples of this clock in numerous Seiko dealers around the country often sitting on a high shelf at the back of a store or positioned away behind the counter.
Luckily this example is in excellent condition and is still in the original box with the original paperwork. One interesting thing to note is the movement in the clock has a quartz oscillator that operates at 4 MHz. I am not sure how common it is in clocks to have such a high frequency oscillator but this would obviously be unusual in a watch movement.
