This is my latest clock.  It is called a Flying Pendulum clock.  See below for a little history.  Years ago at Disney World I saw a clock that used this same timing mechanism and have interested in it since.  The small brass ball on the end of the string wraps around the brass rod twice, once in each direction.  It then swings to the other side and does it again.  The only sound is the clink of the brass ball hitting the brass rod.

Click here to see a small movie of the clock (3.6Mb)

Click here to see a larger movie of the clock (56Mb)

Click here to see a video of the mechanism I made about five years ago. (21Mb) I never turned it into a clock though.

 The original flying pendulum clock was invented, and patented, by Christian Clausen of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1883. It has been called "the craziest clock in the world" due to the motion of the escapement. It was originally sold by the New Haven Clock Company (under the Jerome & Co. name) for about a year (1884-1885). It is reported that these clocks were sold to Jewelry stores to display in their windows to attract the attention of passing shoppers. It got the name "Ignatz" from Dr. Rowell (a noted clock collector) in 1935. Dr. Rowell felt this clock had the personality of Ignatz, the mouse in the old Krazy Kat comic strip. The name stuck as it is still called this today. The original New Haven Flying Pendulum clocks are quite rare. This reproduction was manufactured by the Horolovar Company between 1965 and 1975. The movement was made in Germany and was cased at Horolovar in Bronxville, NY