ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

Incredible Nixie Tube Clock Design

Incredible Nixie Tube Clock Design

Incredible Nixie Tube Clock Design
23 January 2015

Tired of looking at the same old analogue clock face? Does digital do nothing for you? Then you need a tubular timepiece. And roughly £19,000.

The stunning contraption you see before you is the Nixie Machine - part sculpture, part clock. Designed by German artist Frank Buchwald (owner of the most masculine name we've ever encountered), the over-engineered clock uses six Nixie tubes; an old electrical component that displays numbers using mesh anodes, neon gas and cold cathodes.

Commissioned by Mechanical Art Devices Gallery, the Nixie tubes used by Buchwald are "old new stock" - made in the 1960s, the ancient time-tellers have been stored for decades in a sealed Bulgarian army depot. It's not all old tech though - the time is can be set automatically via a GPS receiver. 

Over 350 pieces goes into one Nixie Machine, which is limited to a run of just 12 complete clocks - there aren't enough Nixie tubes to go around.

Good luck finding a replacement should one of the tubes blow. You can find out more about the Nixie Machine here.

[Via: Acquire]