This timepiece has a round face like a traditional clock but that is where the similarity ends. The top half of this piece tells the time whilst the digital display, bottom right, shows the temperature in degrees centigrade. The digital display, bottom left, shows the date in dd:mm:yy format.
The time is displayed in hours and minutes. The hours are displayed as Roman numerals with only the current hour being displayed. The minutes are displayed, withing the hour indicator, between the 9 and 3 positions through 12. The hour indicator moves along the minute scale to show the time. In the photo, which see, the time is showing as 11:36.
In the centre of the piece is the coat-of-arms of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. The clock was placed to mark the 375th anniversary of the Company and was unveiled on 21st May 2007.
The dial is about two metres (almost 7 feet) in diameter and is known as a "wandering hour" dial.
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A rare, new public clock will be unveiled in the heart of the City of London by the Lord Mayor John Stuttard on 31 May as part of an urban redevelopment scheme.
The "wandering hour" Newgate Street Clock has a two-metre diameter dial and is reckoned to be the only clock of its kind in the world. It is the first time in 12 years that a public clock has been installed in the Square Mile.
Construction of the clock, which will be situated in Newgate Street – just 200 metres from St Paul’s Cathedral and opposite the London Stock Exchange – also coincides with the 375th anniversary of the livery company, the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and so bears the Company’s arms in its dial’s centre.
The project is part of the City of London’s Street Scene Challenge and horologist Joanna Migdal was enlisted to design the clock and raise funds to cover its costs.
Sponsors of the Newgate Street Clock include the City of London, J&T Windmills, Bobinet, Sir Harry Djanogly, Charles Frodsham & Co Ltd, Fromanteel Ltd, Christopher Hurrion, Byram N Jeejeebhoy, Raffety & Walwyn Ltd, The Wilky Group, Anthony Woodburn Ltd and the Clockmakers’ Company.
The design of the clock draws its inspiration from the work of Joseph Windmills, a 17th century clockmaker whose first workshop was at the junction of Newgate and St Martin’s le Grand in the City. The wandering hour dial was devised for domestic clocks in the mid-17th century and immediately adopted by a few leading London makers. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the design was adapted for use in a few exclusive London-made pocket watches, including a group by Windmills. The hour numerals pass in turn across an aperture in the upper part of the circular dial, pointing as they travel, to the minutes. As a new hour rises, so the old one sets.
This ingenious mechanism has been adapted for the Newgate Street Clock by renowned clockmakers Smith of Derby to create a blend of high quality traditional engineering and state-of-the-art electronics.
It has a stainless steel dial, makes use of modern technology, such as LEDs and GPS signal correction and is wind and weather-proof.
The Newgate Street Clock will be the focal point in a busy part of the City, popular with City workers and visitors, and stands in the middle of an area redeveloped as part of the City of London’s Street Scene initiative, to improve the urban environment.
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