Our Take

The HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock is the result of our lifelong admiration for vintage clocks. After discovering a reserve of 96 new-old-stock movements a few years ago, we knew it was our opportunity to bring one of our favorite horological creations of the past back to life.

The Details

The HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock is the most recent development to come from our deeply rooted fascination with beautiful objects related to the passage of time. Its form is directly inspired by the vintage travel alarm clocks found on our personal desks, ones that we have traded among ourselves as gifts and tokens of appreciation. Its function, however, remains identical to the clocks found in the luggage of the early adopters of air travel, and the movement is the equivalent to what would be found in the premium travel clocks of yesteryear.

At its simplest, the HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock is a manually wound mechanical clock with an eight-day power reserve and alarm functionality. The clock is easily portable, and its compact dimensions allow it to fit in the palm of a hand, in the pocket of a jacket, stowed away discreetly in an attaché or messenger bag, or at your bedside right at home. The travel alarm clocks we were inspired by were built by some of the finest makers and sold by brands like Hermès and Cartier, establishments that have long been synonymous with worldliness and sophistication. Although function-forward at their heart, the designs of these vintage clocks dripped with bold Art Deco flair.

The HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock highlights the key aesthetic elements shared between our favorite vintage examples. It's built from PVD-coated steel that has been upholstered by hand with goat leather dyed our signature shade of HODINKEE grey. The grey dial fades in its central portion, leaving behind stylistic cues that are both sophisticated and subtle. While the overall appearance of the clock was the result of careful consideration by our in-house design team, one of the most exciting details we have to share about the HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock has to do with its typeface.

The HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock uses a typeface developed by world-renowned designer, avid watch collector, and friend of HODINKEE Jonathan Hoefler that is inspired by the unique lettering and numerals found in vintage wristwatches. The development of this specific typeface, called Decimal, was featured in the 2019 Netflix series Abstract: The Art of Design – you also might remember Hoefler from an episode of HODINKEE Radio that ran not long after its debut. Decimal was born out of a deep appreciation for vintage wristwatches – the same can be said for the creation of HODINKEE, so the partnership was a natural fit.

While sumptuously designed on the outside, the inner workings of the HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock maintain the same principles that have governed mechanical alarm clocks for over a century. A spring is wound, storing energy, and after the set time is reached, the energy is released at once, engaging a gear that swings a hammer back and forth against a resonating chamber or bell. The result is an alarm sound with a rich depth of tone that stands in clear contrast to the comparative chirping of a digital alarm.

Our vintage movements were originally built by a small Swiss manufacture named Pontifa, located in Les Ponts-de-Martel, in the canton of Neuchâtel. Founded in 1850, Pontifa produced movements used in everything from pocket watches to dashboard clocks, but its speciality was eight-day travel alarm clocks just like ours. Movements built by Pontifa were used by some of the most prestigious firms in watchmaking for decades, and to find any number of them in unused, practically new-old-stock condition like we did is unheard of in the contemporary clock collecting community. To assist with the clock's physical construction, we are collaborating with one of the top and longest-tenured firms in today's industry that specializes in clocks and complications.

Due to the limited quantity of movements available, only 96 examples of the HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock will be built – no more, no less. And because each HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock is crafted by hand, it takes time to make them perfect. A number of clocks are available for immediate delivery, and more will arrive shortly. Each clock comes with a numbered certificate, a handmade shell cordovan carrying case with a suede interior, an instruction manual, and a three-year warranty. The HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock is powered by a rare, older movement; please treat the clock with care and make sure instructions for use are followed to avoid damage. Expedited worldwide shipping is included with each order.

Specifications

Model: HODINKEE Eight-Day Travel Clock
Limited Edition: Yes, 96 pieces
Material: Grey PVD-coated steel wrapped in grey goat leather
Dimensions: 4.5 inches long; 2.5 inches wide; 1.2 inches thick
Function: Hours, minutes, alarm
Movement: Pontifa 7320
Lume: Yes, Super-LumiNova on hands
Power Reserve: Eight days
Manufactured: Switzerland
Box/Papers: Yes, comes with signed certificate of ownership and instruction manual
Warranty: Three years

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