The Museum of Time

HALL OF TIMEKEEPERS

Five working instruments of the hour, kept in running order. Each tells the same afternoon differently.

Drag · wheel · ← → to walk the hall
00 : 00 : 00
EXHIBIT I · 1958

The Binary Lamp

Six lamps per row read hours, minutes, seconds in base two.

FLIP
MECHANISM

Each column is a power of two — 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1. Sum the lit lamps in a row to read the time. Wired by a museum volunteer, still true.

EXHIBIT II · 1971

The Speaking Wall

It says the time in words, rounded to five minutes.

FLIP
MECHANISM

One hundred and twelve small lamps behind a printed grid. Only the needed words light; the rest wait in the dark for their turn.

00:00
EXHIBIT III · 1889

Regulator with Conic Escapement

One swing per second, exactly.

FLIP
MECHANISM

The bob's swing is a faithful sine — watch it breathe. The escapement releases one tooth per pass, so each arc costs the wheel one second.

— min past the hour —
EXHIBIT IV · c. 900

The Candle Clock

Burns one ring per hour, then is replaced.

FLIP
MECHANISM

Marked wax, steady wick. Our docent replaces the candle on the hour — you may catch the minute level sinking in real time.

next drop…
EXHIBIT V · 1745

The Dewdrop Timer

One drop falls each minute, into the basin below.

FLIP
MECHANISM

Condensation gathers on the cold coil until surface tension gives way. Sixty gathers, sixty falls — the quietest minute hand we own.

Hall of Timekeepers — East Wing
from the 100-gallery · Nº 069