Clocks · Clock
Clocks by Unidentified, United States, mid 1980s
- Maker / attribution
- Unidentified (Manufactured by); Flavor Flav, American, born 1959 (Worn by); Public Enemy, American, founded 1982 (Subject of)
- Date
- mid 1980s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Place
- United States, North and Central America
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- plastic , metal , ink and rope
- Dimensions
- plastic , metal , ink and rope; H x W x D (Height including rope): 15 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (39.4 × 11.4 × 3.5 cm)
- Holding institution
- National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
- Accession / object no.
- 2018.49
- Credit line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Flavor Flav
- Catalogue title (original)
- Clock worn by Flavor Flav
Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (object number 2018.49), this is a clock by Unidentified, made in United States, North and Central America, dated mid 1980s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: plastic , metal , ink and rope. Recorded dimensions: plastic , metal , ink and rope; H x W x D (Height including rope): 15 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (39.4 × 11.4 × 3.5 cm). The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Description
Clock necklace worn by Flavor Flav in the late 1980s and early 1990s during performances and appearances with the group Public Enemy.
Description
The clock is round and black with an off white face. It has rounded edges and several scratches on it. There is a small black circle on the top of the clock, made out of the same material as the body of the clock. There is a hole on either side. It has a grey rope cord through it with a knot at the top.
Description
The face of the clock is off white and is slightly discolored. It has all twelve numbers in black ink. There are dots going around the outer edge of the face of the clock. There are bold black dots directly next to the twelve numbers, with for smaller black dots in between. There is text above the number "6" white reads [WATER / RESISTANT]. The hands of the clock are black. There is a short, thick hour hand between the "4" and "5", a longer, thinner minute hand at the "29" minute mark, and the longest, thinnest hand, the second hand, is pointing at the "3". The face of the clock is covered with a clear plastic, which has scratches and cracks in several places.
Description
The back of the clock has four visible silver screws, two on the top and two on the bottom. There is a smaller protruding black circle in the middle of the back of the clock. It has raised text which reads [OPEN] and [CLOSE] with an arrow above the words. There are some indented grooves around the edges of the smaller circle. There is a small hole at the bottom of the clock and there is an indented circle going around the entire edge of the clock.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz movements and digital displays made accurate clocks cheap and ubiquitous after the early 1970s. LED and LCD clocks, clock radios and radio-controlled clocks appeared, while traditional mechanical clockmaking contracted sharply in Germany, France and Britain.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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