Gifts and Gadgets

The same technology developed in 1952 for use in submarines, early mainframe computers, and the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, the now-extremely-rare Nixie tube has been resurrected for use in this handmade clock that shows the date and time. The warm glow created by the tubes was eventually supplanted in the 1970s by todays LCD screens, but the tubes remain prized by collectors and historians.

When filled with neon and other gasses, then charged with an electric current, the Nixie (adapted from Numerical Indicator Experimental) displays digits using a thin metal mesh and ten electrodes. The six tubes are attached to a stainless steel base and can be displayed in either 12 or 24-hour mode, which is accurate to within .0003 seconds per minute.