For Christmas, my brother Ron bought us all really unique, if inexpensive gifts. For me it was a Dictionary of Clocks and Watches by Eric Bruton. It is pretty fascinating book for someone interested in horology. What make is really neat is the fact that it was published in 1963, so it is a snapshot the state of the art in time keeping in 1963.
It was time where quartz clocks existing, but still 6 years away from the quartz watch. Electric and tuning fork watches were around as well, a new novelty. In case you have never heard of a tuning fork watch, it is a watch where the time keeping is driven by a precise tuning fork. The watch literally hums at 300hz. Each time the fork oscillates, the second hand moves. The cool thing is that it results a super smooth second hand sweep. At the time, no one really knew what would be the next generation of watches. Turns out Seiko was right with miniaturizing quartz technology and quartz watches are by far the dominate form of watch.
The other cool thing is reading about how mechanical watches really work. Escapements, pallet stones, etc. It has given me even more respect for mechanical time keepers. I have almost read the book from cover to cover, yes, a little dorky, but it was a good read and a excellent reference book in the future.
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