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mwexler 5 days ago

I just want the clocks. Mondaine tries, but they aren't the same. That 58.5 second rotation then pause is quite clever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_railway_clock

theqwxas 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Mondaine also sells their Stop2Go collection, which is specifically designed to do the pause at 58 seconds

https://mondaine.com/collections/stop2go-watches

hydrogen7800 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

After my first visit to Switzerland, I knew I needed one of those clocks for my home. Unfortunately the ones available are cheap (though expensive) and don't have the second hand dwell at the top of each minute.

fortran77 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I remember when Apple just went and stole the Swiss railway clocks. See: https://www.techmonitor.ai/technology/apple-pays-21mn-to-swi...

fc417fc802 4 days ago | parent [-]

I thought trademarks were for brand distinction. Since it doesn't seem like anyone is going to confuse an ipad with a wristwatch let alone the operator of a train station I don't understand the issue.

Well anyway why couldn't they have removed the circle on the end of the second hand and called it a day? Regardless of how I feel about the legal situation how is that circle worth $20 million to them?

lqet 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Here is an original from a German station (in the design of the 1950ies):

https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/bahnhofsuhr/343129269...

Levitating 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I always thought I was just imagine a pause at the full minute.

jeffrallen 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Wait for it, wait for it... Click.

Aaaah.

pseudohadamard 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Just to confirm, so SBB has a bridge to sell you?

game_the0ry 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The central clock dependency is cool, but I wonder is there were any problems with latency -- like does the centralized electrical impulse reach a train station 10km away and another one at 20km at the same time? Did they factor that in?

bauruine 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

Isn't that propagating with around the speed of light? Switzerland is only about 1 light ms wide so even if they only have one master clock instead of one per train station the latency should be negligible especially in the 1950s.

madaxe_again 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I know the Swiss are known for punctuality and timekeeping, but I don’t think anyone is going to notice a 33μs delay to their train.

bluGill 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The speed of light is copper wires is fast enough that you don't need to factor this in. At least not for human purposes.

extraduder_ire 5 days ago | parent [-]

Even if you did, I think the time it takes to move the second+minute hand from a stop is longer than the time it takes the signal to get there.