Those of you who hang out on any of the boards I frequent know that I’m a hopeless technoboob. I love mechanical gadgets, in which I can see the moving parts and how they relate to one another, but electronic stuff baffles me. So I was delighted when I retired and would no longer have to deal with my criminally complicated clock-radio (it’s so complex that I haven’t yet gotten up the courage to review it.)

But I did need a clock. Since we live at the foot of the mountain on top of which are most of the transmitters that serve the greater Los Angeles area, we don’t get good FM reception down at the south end of the dial where my public stations live. So radio wasn’t a biggie for me. All I needed was to be able to see what time it was.

We were shopping at Restoration Hardware when I found their bedroom display, complete with several retro alarm clocks, updated for contemporary use. I glommed on to the Salton Big Ben Retro Clock Metal Quartz Alarm Clock (speaking of criminally complex - why do you suppose they put the word "clock" in there twice?), henceforth to be known as Big Ben, and it’s been love ever since.


FEATURES

• My Big Ben has generous dimensions; it stands 6" tall to the top of the knob, and the case is 5½” wide at its widest point. It's footprint is about 2" x 3".

• The face is a circle 4" in diameter.

• The face is a creamy off-white with black 1930's-style numerals and minute markers. The numerals are about ⅜” tall and simple in style.

• The clock has the requisite hour, minute, and second hands - did I mention that this is an analog clock? - and a fourth hand for setting the alarm.

• The hour and minute hands are painted with a phosphorescent paint so you can see them in the dark. They glow much more brightly right after you turn off the lights, of course, but even in the middle of the night when I wake up, there’s still enough glow for me to tell the time.

• To activate the alarm, pull up on the knob on top to activate the alarm. Push down on it to kill the alarm.

• One of the two knobs on the back of the clock sets the time. The other sets the alarm time.

• The alarm is sort of a cross between a bell and a chime. It dings until you turn it off, which you do by pushing down on the knob on top. There’s no snooze button on this clock; the alarm is either on or off.

• Big Ben runs on a single AA battery. You can access the battery compartment by turning the two knurled screws on the back of the clock. My clock has been running on the original battery since I bought it 18 months ago.

• The clock makes a quiet tick-tock sound.

• My Big Ben has a nice brushed chrome finish. According to the picture on this page, it also comes in a brushed bronze finish.

• I haven’t tried to weigh it, but it has a nice heft - this is a substantial clock. I'm sure it would make a nice dent in the back of someone's head if pitched from across the room.

• I bought my Big Ben about 18 months ago and no longer remember exactly what I paid, but I believe it was in the neighborhood of $40.


WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

• Just about everything. I love the retro look of it. It reminds me of my mother’s old alarm clock, which had two little bells on top and a hammer that vibrated between them.

• I love its simplicity. I love not having to refer to the instruction manual every time I have to set it or change the time. Even I can figure this one out.

• I love the small footprint. Unlike my old clock-radios, even the small ones, my Big Ben takes almost no room on my nightstand.

• I love the fact that it’s not digital. Neo-Luddite that I am, having grown up with analog clocks, I find that I need that clock-face to help me get the time. Even when I’m reading the digits off a digital clock, I find myself picturing the time on a clock face. And I’ve read about studies that showed that kids who grow up with only digital time-pieces have a harder time grasping the concepts of time than those who are familiar with analog clocks.

• I love that quiet “tick-tock” in the middle of the night. It always reminds me of quiet Sunday afternoons when everyone was taking a nap.


WHAT I’D CHANGE IF I COULD

• I’d put the battery compartment behind a little hinged door that latches open and closed. The knurled knobs are easy to grasp and turn, but lining up two tiny holes to put the clock back together is a nuisance. A little hinged door would be lovely.

• I’d make the phosphorescence on the hands a little bigger. It’s just a narrow stripe down the middle of the black hands. The black is handy for day-time viewing, but I’d like a little more glow in the middle of the night.

• Since I no longer have to get up for work - don’t hate me because I’m retired! - I don’t use the alarm very often. But if I had to get up at my old time of 5:00 am every morning, I’d want some sort of snooze feature. Not sure how to incorporate it into this simple clock, but it would be handy for people who have a hard time getting up every day.


SUMMARY AND VERDICT

I’ve had lots of clock-radios over the years and most of them were fairly complex, with bells and whistles and instruction manuals that you need to read before you can do things as simple as changing the time or the alarm setting. The Big Ben shines in comparison. With two setting knobs and one alarm-activation knob, anyone can figure it out. I always appreciate things that do exactly what they are supposed to do with a minimum of effort on my part and some degree of elegance, and my Big Ben exemplifies that aesthetic beautifully. Five stars.

Recommended: Yes

Write a Review