Tempus Fugit Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Dollar watch

This example from 1940 was made of very cheap materials and contains no jewels which prevent the frictional wear of moving parts. The dial itself was originally made from plain white paper but over the course of time due to exposure to sunlight has yellowed. The watches sold for around $1.00.

Answer: You cannot

American watchmakers such as this one only made the movements and housed them in cases supplied by companies that specialised in making them. Cases can show a serial number either on the inside or outside but do not indicate on the date the watch was made.
While it will have a serial number on the movement itself, 11901171, as seen at the bottom, this will indicate only the first year the watch was made. A popular model could have a production run of thousands over the course of several years so you cannot get an exact date for when it was made. A more correct answer for when a specific watch was made would be "around" 1905 in this particular example.

Answer: For a more symmetrical appearance

It was considered to improve the overall appearance of the watch to have 3 equal groupings of the I, V, and X.

Answer: Fleur de Lys

There are dozens of different types of hands which go to enhancing the appearance of the timepiece. This watch is somewhat unusual in that it uses both
the 12- and 24-hour clocks for the numbers and the 24-hour clock was not generally in use until the first World War. It might have been made with the medical profession or military in mind. The concept of the 24-hour day originated with the early Egyptians.

Answer: The Great Patriotic War

The inscription and dates refer to the "Great Patriotic War" for the 4 years that the country fought in the second World War. The Soviet army was the first of the allied powers to reach Berlin during the second World War in 1945. Russian and Sweden were twice at war but many centuries before the 1940s. Laika was a stray dog launched into space in 1957 and the first animal in space.

At that time the Soviets had no means of recovering spacecraft,

Answer: Niello

The case is made from coin silver with pink gilt niello and red gilt floral decorations. Niello is a combination of lead, silver copper and sulfur which is fired on to the case back where it strongly adheres. After cooling it is then engraved. Niello cases are not mass produced but hand made.

Answer: Must be rested, unwound, for at least 24 hours

The actual list had 15 specific requirements. Some of those can be seen etched into the movement. All railroad employees engaged in the operation of trains were required to buy an approved watch. The employees had to submit their watches for examination at the beginning of each trip and monthly for inspection. American Railroad watches are highly collectible and can fetch extremely high prices. The mainspring in a watch provides the power to move the hands.

A watch will normally need to be wound after running for 24 hours.

This watch has an extra long mainspring and will run for 50 hours before winding is necessary.

Answer: By a key which winds a chain

The industrial revolution was still in its infancy when this watch was made. Not only would the watchmaker have to make nearly all the parts by hand but also many of the tools required for the job. The photo is greatly enlarged. The actual height of this movement from top to bottom is 1 inch/2.5 centimetres. The fusee is the conical barrel on the right of the picture from which the chain winds to the barrel on the left.

It maintains an equal tension so that the watch does not slow down. The watch is wound anti-clockwise.

The worst thing to do is over-wind it. The chain can slip off or even break and a replacement is nearly impossible to find or a new one has to be made. The fusee was purportedly invented by Leonardo da Vinci.

Answer: Lee Van Cleef

Van Cleef and Eastwood were the 2 bounty hunters looking for the baddie. Wallach was not in this film although all three played together later in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Elam also frequently appeared in westerns but is mostly remember from "High Noon" in one of the earlier scenes being pestered by a very annoying blowfly.

The watch itself is not musical since it is impossible to include all the components of an orchestral score in a watch. The only musical possibility of a watch would be the chimes that strike to indicate the hour or half hour.In this case the maker added an audio card for that purpose.

Check out the final scene in the film to see the watch in action.

Answer: Fobs

In time such a seal was itself referred to as a "fob".

The seal fob was replaced by many other charms and decorations . Many useful tools or gadgets were worn on the watch or fob chain.They include: pen knives, whistles, compasses, monocles, magnifying glasses, vestas to hold matches, sovereign coin cases, cigar cutters, stamp holders, watch keys, retractable pencils, and of course personal wax seals. Photo lockets, mementos, sporting awards and company advertising are all commonly seen. Fascinators are fashionable, exotic decoration worn on a woman's hat. A foible is a strange or odd characteristic that someone can have. Fops are men who are overly concerned with their appearance.