While this watch may look goofy as all get-out, rest assured it holds an important spot in the history of timekeeping. It is one of the first “atomic” clocks that is accurate to a second every thousand years – provided the battery doesn’t die. Called the Cesium 133 it’s made by a small Hawaiian watch company called Bathys [Warning: Autoplaying audio]
The watch uses a small Symmetricon SA.45s CASC, an atomic clock on a chip. It provides the timekeeping system for the analog clock face. The creator, Dr. John Patterson, slapped the chip into a milled metal case, added a face and a strap, and is now working on figuring out how to manufacture these monsters. This isn’t even the watch’s final form. According to ABlogToWatch:
Further, the final version of the Cesium 133 watch will have some LED status lights and a more attractive case. The prototype is 60mm wide by 50mm tall, and 23mm thick. The final version will have a light-weight carbon fiber case, be smaller, and retain the classic Bathys moon phase dial.
I’ve looked at some of Bathys’ other pieces on this site and the style and quality have always been top notch, especially for a US-based brand. I’m interested to see how these monsters come out when Patterson is finally ready to ship.
Considering Woz runs around with a huge Nixie Tube watch sometimes I suspect this behemoth will end up on some techie wrists when it’s finally complete. Bathys will make 20 of these watches in 2014 and they’ll be priced at $12,000 each, arguably a steep price to pay in order to get absolute integrity in your time keeping. However, now you know you’ll never be late.
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