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BUCHERER "AION" ROLLING BALL CLOCK
Watch Store Keeping World Record Time in Lucerne

Rolling Ball Clock Luzern photoIt takes a lot of balls to build the world’s largest ball clock. Okay, I couldn’t resist. A prominent feature of a visit to the beautiful central Switzerland city of Lucerne is the original main store of the Bucherer brand of Swiss watch-maker, recognized as one of the world’s leading brands of fine watches. Carl F. Bucherer began making watches in 1888 in another small shop in the old town. By the turn of the century, Lucerne had become a popular international vacation destination. Visitors traveled from all over the world to the lakeside city to experience the special beauty of Lucerne and its innovative attractions (see Bourbaki Panorama). Carl F. Bucherer and his sons opened the main store in 1920 to take advantage of the growing Bucherer Watch and Jewelry Store Luzern phototourist traffic and the exclusive Belle Epoch hotels which lined its lake shore near the grand casino. Even today the street can get filled at rush hour with tour busses stopping the tight parking zone in front, marring a bit the beauty of the historic store. Bucherer watches and jewelers now have elegant stores in upscale shopping districts throughout in Switzerland and Germany, from the narrow lanes of exclusive Zermatt to Unter den Linden in Berlin, selling their own as well as other brands of high quality Swiss made time pieces and jewelry. Certainly not the oldest of Swiss watchmakers (see Patek Philippe Museum Geneva) or as famous as Rolex, Bucherer is one of the iconic names in Switzerland's best known industry (see Watchmaking Museum La Chaux-de-Fonds).

Bucherer Store LucerneThe Bucherer flagship store on Lucerne's Schwanenplatz, directly across from the lake at the end of the main road bridge where it intersects the symbolic wooden Chapel Bridge that identifies Lucerne, needed a refurbishment in 2006 and plans were developed to create a signature time piece for the store, a giant rolling ball clock sculpture. Named “Aion”, taken from the ancient Greek meaning the infinity of time, the unique clock was built by a team of engineers led by Hanns-Martin Wagner from Switzerland and Mark Bischof from the Netherlands. Completed in 2008 the Aion Rolling Ball Clock was officially designated as the world’s largest of its kind by Guiness Book of World Records. Standing 38 feet high and about 20 feet wide, rising though all four floors of the store, the clock's “balls’ are actually glass marbles, which tumble and run down a shining transparent maze, ticking the seconds as they roll, collecting at the gear wheel at one-a-minute until 60 turn the mechanism to the next hour. Ball Clock Crystal Marbels tracks photoRun by only the kinetic energy of the marbles, the clock is a complex mechanism of precision. A "waterfall" of marbles begins at the top, counting the seconds. The balls race through a spiraling curtain into the clock where they run at high speed on a wire track. A giant crystal ball at the bottom of the clock oscillates every quarter hour, and the hands move on the giant time face, behind the glass wall. The clock is unavoidable at the center of the store, riding the escalator from floor to floor with a different features visible on each level. No admission or watch purchase is required to view the clock, but they're hoping maybe you can't resist. For more Bucherer watch making history they also have a small museum at the company's production facility in Lengnau, near Biel. © Bargain Travel Europe

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SEE ALSO:

ROSENGART COLLECTION

RICHARD WAGNER MUSEUM LUCERNE

GLACIER GARDEN OF LUCERNE

WALDSTATTERHOF - LAKE LUCERNE HOTELS

HOTEL PILATUS KULM - MT PILATUS

SWISS MUSEUM OF TRANSPORT LUCERNE

LUCERNE CARNIVAL MASKS