Before digital clocks, there was Pennwood.
As a senior in high school (Cheshire Academy, 1968) I had one of these on my desk, and although I was not one of the popular crowd, I frequently had my housemates in my room just watching it go. Powered by an electric motor, the individual rotors would slowly click over at the appropriate moments, just like an odometer.
Then, as time moved on, it was discarded. Fool! Cretin! Blistering simpleton! I wish someone had told me things like this would be valuable.
But, thanks to eBay, I was able to find a replacement. Not exactly the same model, but close enough to feel as though I had an old friend back.
This one even has a light, and I’m assuming one can put a picture of a loved one in the appropriate place, which I’ve never gotten around to doing.
But I love it. It’s phenomenally accurate. There’s something about old timepieces that just floats my boat.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Playing in the World Game 
… and every morning at 6am it starts playing Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”.
It’s *cold* out there, campers!
Nice going, boys. You’re playing yesterday’s tape! Again!
Phenomenally accurate – As long as your utility keeps doing Time Error Correction overnight. They were Bean-Counters seriously talking about stopping since there are “so few synchronous clocks still in use…” but so far cooler heads have prevailed.
During the day when huge loads get dropped on the power grid (like that 1,000 HP motor at the steel mill) the frequency sags slightly – From 60.0 to 59.9 or even 59.8. You clock can slip several seconds a day if it’s bad.
They have a Master Clock in the major powerplant feeding a regional grid (for instance at Hoover Dam) that tracks it down to the microsecond, and the Overnight crew cranks the generators up to 60.05 or 60.1 Hz till the master clock reads correctly – and that fixes everyone else’s too.
Well, if they ever stop doing that, my clock will need adjustment on occasion – but I keep it around as an old friend more than an accurate one.
But thanks, I never knew that. 😀
I found a clock just like your first picture. Thanks for the write up.