Clocks · Digital alarm clock
English, 1977, designed by J. Ryan for Carmen
- Maker / attribution
- John Ryan (designer); House of Carmen (manufacturer)
- Date
- 1977
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- England
- Object type
- Digital alarm clock
- Materials / technique
- ABS, plastic case
- Dimensions
- Height: 13 cm; Width: 12.5 cm; Depth: 4 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- W.72-1978
- Credit line
- Given by House of Carmen Ltd.
- Catalogue title (original)
- Countdown CD1 digital clock
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number W.72-1978), this is a digital alarm clock by John Ryan, made in England, dated 1977. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ABS, plastic case. Recorded dimensions: Height: 13 cm; Width: 12.5 cm; Depth: 4 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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
V&A — Physical description
Countdown CD1 digital clock, ABS plastic case.
V&A — Object history
Given in 1978 by House of Carmen Ltd. [78/937]. Historical significance: Winner of Design Centre Award in 1977.
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
Alarm clocks
Alarm work is among the oldest clock functions: monastic clocks woke monks for night prayers, and Renaissance table clocks often carried an alarm disc set by a pin. A separate spring or weight is released at the set time and drives a hammer against a bell. Some early alarms also lit a candle by striking a flint — the 'tinder pistol' alarm.
The cheap, mass-produced alarm clock arrived in the second half of the nineteenth century. American firms such as Seth Thomas and Westclox (the 'Big Ben' of 1910) and German makers such as Junghans and Kienzle made millions of drum-shaped alarms with pin-pallet escapements. Electric, quartz and digital alarm clocks followed in the twentieth century.
What to look for
- A separate alarm-setting dial or disc and an extra winding key.
- Twin bells on top (common after c. 1920) or a bell enclosed in the base.
- Pin-pallet escapements in inexpensive factory alarms.
- Trademarks and patent dates on dial or back.
Dating clues
- Renaissance alarm table clocks: sixteenth to seventeenth centuries.
- Drum alarm clocks: from the 1870s.
- Luminous dials with radium paint: c. 1910–1960.
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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