Part of Balcony House in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

How The Native American Ancestral Puebloans Kept Track Of Time

/4 Comments/in , /by

If you’ve been lucky enough to travel to the “four corners” area of the southwestern United States (where U.S. states Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico “meet”), then you may have seen or even visited some of the cliff dwellings built by ancient native Americans that were erroneously called Anasazi for thousands of years and now go by the term Ancestral Puebloans. Read on to find out what we know about how this ancient tribe of people kept time and why they needed to do so.

Read more

Radium Watch Dials And Radium Girls: Who Would Have Thought ‘Eating’ Radioactive Material Was Deadly?

/2 Comments/in /by

One of the last of the so-called Radium Girls passed away at the age of 107 in late 2014. These were women working in factories tasked with painting the numerals and other markings on watch dials with a luminous paint comprising glue, water, and radium powder. Little did they know the consequences this job would have.

Read more
Tourbillon Lumière by Angelus. You can just see the fuel gauge like power reserve indicator on the caseband

Historic Swiss Brand Angelus Is Back And Presents The U10 Tourbillon Lumière

/11 Comments/in , , , /by

The La Joux-Perret-based team behind Arnold & Son has relaunched revered Swiss brand Angelus and presents the very contemporary U10 Tourbillon Lumière, which pays respect to Angelus’ period travel clocks in the shape of its case and to 1960s-1970s design with its funky dial.

Read more
El Castillo at Chichen Itza

The World’s Biggest Man-Made Calendar: El Castillo At Chichén Itzá

/9 Comments/in , , /by

Contemplating the 30-meter-high ancient pyramid at Mayan archeological site Chichén Itzá in the blazing Yucatán sunlight, I was awestruck by the structure’s complexity. Not just because of the pure historical ramifications of the pyramid and temple , but also because of its timekeeping capabilities. Chichén Itzá’s most famous structure was actually built to be the world’s largest calendar And this at a time when calendars didn’t even exist!

Read more
Ludwig-Oechslin. Photo courtesy Bea Weinmann/Ochs und Junior

Ludwig Oechslin Retires As MIH (International Museum Of Horology) Curator And Director

/10 Comments/in , /by

“This is, of course, the most important watch museum in the world,” Ludwig Oechslin says unapologetically as I sit across from him with my steaming cup of espresso during a jovial chat in the museum’s conference room. If there is one thing Oechslin does, he tells it like he sees it.

Read more