Swiss railway clock

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Swiss railway clock
A Swiss railway clock at Zürich HB
ManufacturerMoser-Baer / Mobatime [de]
TypeElectric clock
DisplayAnalogue
Introduced1944
MovementSynchronous motor

The Swiss railway clock was designed in 1944 by

hand in the shape of the baton used by train dispatch staff,[2]
giving the clock its current appearance.

Technology

Virtual clock

The clock owes its technology to the particular requirements of operating a railway. First,

railway station have to run synchronously in order to show reliable time for both passengers and railway personnel anywhere on or around the station.[3]

The station clocks in Switzerland are synchronised by receiving an electrical impulse from a central master clock at each full minute, advancing the minute hand by one minute. The second hand is driven by an electrical motor independent of the master clock. It takes only about 58.5 seconds to circle the face; then the hand pauses briefly at the top of the clock. It starts a new rotation as soon as it receives the next minute impulse from the master clock.[3] This movement is emulated in some of the licensed timepieces made by Mondaine.

Cultural impact

A monumental clock in Aarau railway station

Since the introduction of the distinctive red second hand in 1953, the clock has become a Swiss national icon.[4][3][5][6] It is included among examples of 20th-century design by both the Design Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

The clock face design has been used in a line of Mondaine watches since 1986.

The clock face design is also licensed for use on certain

CHF 20M (about US$22.4M as of January 2014) to license the use of the clock design.[10] Apple later removed the design from its operating system with iOS 7.[11]

Adoptions by other railways

In August 2020, Ñuñoa Station in the Santiago Metro had a Swiss railway clock installed on it.

The

MTR Corporation Limited in 2008, the logo was covered by the new operator. As of September 2022, the new operator has been found retiring station clocks and discarding them as scrap metal.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Ahead of time". SBB Stories. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Apple gets OK to use Swiss railway clock design". Reuters. 12 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Köbi Gantenbein, ed. (2013). Die Bahnhofsuhr – Ein Mythos des Designs aus der Schweiz (in German). Zurich, Switzerland: Edition Hochparterre. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Remarkable clocks and watches: the Swiss railway clock". www.eda.admin.ch. Berne, Switzerland: Presence Switzerland, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Mobatime – Swiss Time Systems: References". Sumiswald, Bern, Switzerland: MOSER-BAER SA. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  6. ^ "SBB Bahnhofsuhr". www.eguide.ch. Zurich, Switzerland: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Apple kopiert die berühmte SBB-Uhr". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Zurich, Switzerland: TA Media AG. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Swiss rail claims Apple copied its iconic clocks". Yahoo News.
  9. ^ "SBB and Apple Sign Licence Agreement". PRNewswire.
  10. ^ Adrian Sulc (11 November 2012). "Der Streit mit Apple schwemmt Millionen in die SBB-Kasse". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Zurich, Switzerland: TA Media AG. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Apple's mobile iOS 7 gives up Swiss train clock". Geneva Lunch.[dead link]
  12. ^ "車站曾用 「國鐵鐘」疑變廢鐵 港鐵：早期時鐘將陸續退役". The Ming Pao.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swiss railway clock.
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