The Hammock Clock
The Hammock Clock, Miki Eleta, 2022, Nr. 40
Table clock with spring winding.
The centre of the clock is formed by an Eleta escapement. The cylindrical hour and minute displays on the left move continuously and are skeletonised by hand. The minute wheel turns once an hour, the hour wheel twice a day.
On a horizontal plane above the base, a two-part skeletonised ring indicates world time: the names of 24 cities can be read on the inner, static part. The outer ring is divided into 24 hours and rotates.
Musical movement
To the right of the clock is a musical movement with three dancing fools. It consists of 6 bars, 6 hammers, and a mechanism with its own drive (spring barrel), as well as three glass figures. On the hour, a sequence of tones sounds for 24 seconds, which is not repeated for several centuries. The jesters dance in a circle and also turn around their own axis.
Moon phase
A moon phase is worked into the cylindrical hour dial (correction in 128 years). The skeletonised cover plate shows motifs from nature and a bridge marking the equator. A hammock is fixed under the bridge, in which a reading man is lying. From his position he sees the moon phase of the southern hemisphere (this is represented by the lower half of the skeletonised plate). Does the moon look different there than on the northern hemisphere?
Technical data
Power reserve clock and movement: 7 days
Height: 42 cm, width: 33 cm, depth: 22 cm
Weight: approx. 5 kg
Pendulum length: 25 cm
Oscillation period: 1 sec
Materials
All rotating parts of the clock are ball bearing or ruby bearing. All parts are made of brass or steel by Miki Eleta and are gold- or chrome-plated. Individual elements are set with lapis lazuli stones. The glass figures are made by the Zurich glass artist Guido Stadelmann.