Antique Skull Clock Fetches £67,000 October 29, 2007

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With the clocks having just changed to plunge us all into true winter darkness, here's a timely little timepiece that manages to capture that Halloween spirit almost 400 years after it was meticulously hand-crafted.

Our man at Watchismo turns up some great timepieces, from the luxury Vulcania to the Best Watches of The 1970s, comes this Skull clock resting on crossed shin bones and mounted on a brass tri-pod. Built in 1610, the hinged skull reveals the intricate mechanism.

"The movements of the automaton jaw and the snakes in the eyes are controlled by two six-spoke cams driven by the fusee and revolving twenty times an hour, so that the jaws take three minutes to open and then close suddenly while the snakes alternately pop out of, then return back into, each eye socket, twice a minute. Height 14 cm, including the base. Back plate signed."

Got to love those snakes popping out from the eye sockets every minute. This grisly little number just sold at auction in the US for £67,000. Jump to see the whole clock.-Martin Lynch

[Watchismo]

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