At the embassy reception, I was fortunate to ask the right person for the time. “Mais oui,” the attractive young lady replied and raised her left arm with the remarkable bracelet that I had noticed earlier. On the band was a large, bulbous, luminescent beetle.
I thought she misunderstood my question, until she pressed her finger on the head of the ornament, causing its shell to open as two wing covers. At first, I pulled my head back, half expecting the jewelry to extend wings and fly away, until I saw that the covers had revealed a spherical watch. As its hands hovered and came to rest like compass needles, I saw that it was made of three glass spheres, each inside the other.
The outer globe was fixed to the watch base, had hour markings and contained a small amount of liquid in which the next globe floated. That crystal orb had a minute hand inscribed on its surface and held, floating within, an hour sphere. The woman explained that each inner sphere was positioned and rotated by a magnet underneath.
I became so enchanted discussing the workings of the stunning and distinctive timepiece, that I completely lost track of the time.-- FarmerJohn, Jan 08 2003 illustration and schematic http://www.geocitie...johnnie/beetle.html [FarmerJohn, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004] I'd probably spend the next 5 years just looking at it. I love watches you see. You could say that I'm a chrono-phille..ha, ha.-- talen, Jan 08 2003 Wow amazing, I’m only sorry this wasn’t one of yours.-- Isis, Jan 08 2003 Very nice, though I don't imagine everyone would be able to pull off wearing it.-- Pharaoh Mobius, Jan 08 2003 Daylight savings time must be a nightmare at your house [FJ].-- Shz, Jan 08 2003 Death watch beetle?-- UnaBubba, Jan 08 2003 I'm so glad you came to this site, FJ.-- snarfyguy, Jan 08 2003 Something about that drawing bugs me.-- UnaBubba, Jan 08 2003 when a young man speaks of an attractive young woman (french accent - nudge, nudge) ... blah blah blah and then he goes on to speak of *the woman* - my feminine intuition kicks in - hey, he's not looking at the watch...-- po, Jan 08 2003 Spheres within spheres! Resting on the back of a scarab! How protoptolemaic! Biscuit!-- bungston, Jan 08 2003 With its irridescent shell casing, if you put a day/date function on that watch, you could call it the "June Bug" model. Perfect for feminine grads and June brides. Regardless of name, a stunning bit of jewelry. Perhaps we should ask you to change your name to FabergeJohn.-- jurist, Jan 09 2003 Farmer John, I don't know if it's just coincidence or if you have actually seen something like this, but my mother just gave my daughter a pair of scrunchies, ( I think they're called), with this exact beetle design. Push the antennae together and the wings pop open, no time piece though. (+)-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 09 2003 I have no conscious memory of having seen it. The function leads thinking logically to locket applications.-- FarmerJohn, Jan 09 2003 halfbakery