(Roughly) Daily

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos is a mechanical clock that winds itself– forever.  Introduced in the mid-1930s, the Atmos runs indefinitely so long as there is an ambient temperature change of at least 1 degree Celsius in the range between 15 and 30 C each day. As illustrated here, the clock stores mechanical energy from the thermal expansion and contraction of an hermetically-sealed capsule in its works. Atmos clocks are handcrafted, astoundingly accurate– the “lunar phase” model registers a difference of under one day every 3,821 years– and very expensive.

(Thanks to our friends at Make…)

As we rest our wrists, send birthday thoughts to the great Walt Kelly, the creator of Pogo (and other denizens of the Okefenokee Swamp); he was born on this date in 1913…  “Don’t take life too serious, it ain’t no how permanent.”

Walt Kelly’s Pogo on Earth Day, 1971