think tank forum

Flippin' Amazing! (Twemco Flip Clock)

Product: Twemco Flip Clock
Date: 02/04/08 (894 review reads)
Rating: 5 stars

Advantages: Excellent look, very functional, precision time keeping

Disadvantages: Some people might not want their house to look like a bank - but they're wrong

Furnishing and picking the décor for a new house isn't something that comes naturally to me. If I was being stereotypical I'd blame it on my gender or my sexuality. From watching some of the endless different television programmes on interior decorating it seems pretty obvious to me that the experts in the field are women or gay men (or Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen - who is neither a woman nor a gay man, but still comes across as a mixture of both). So when I was given the task by my wife to carry out one act of interior decoration for our newly painted living room, I saw it as an opportunity to represent straight men everywhere and prove that we are not completely useless. A bold claim, undeniably, but one I was determined to validate.

My task was to get a clock, something stylish, yet functional (a bit like myself). It didn't take me long to work out what sort of clock I was after. My inspiration struck me while standing in a queue in the bank. I noticed they had a giant flip clock on the wall behind the tellers. It boasted not only the time but also the day and the date. I've always liked flip clocks. I like the 'schwump' noise they make when the minute flipper flips. They make much more of an event out of the end of a minute and the beginning of a brand new minute than boring old analogue clocks do.

So, I set about my search for a suitable flip clock. I was after one that was about 30 - 40 cm wide by about 20 - 30 cm high, and not too deep as I wanted to mount the clock on the wall. As I do with most things I buy these days. I trawled the internet to find exactly what I wanted. I thought Ebay would have a selection of clocks meeting my criteria but I was disappointed to find none that made the grade despite carrying out a number of searches. So I had to look elsewhere, and after a few hours scouring the internet I found the flip clock I so desired from Twemco at revivehome.com, a Singapore based website. I was a little reluctant to make any more mail order purchases from the Far East (the last thing I got from that part of the world had to be returned. Mai Ling was just rubbish at cooking, and don't even start me on her ironing) but my Twemco clock arrived securely packaged and in perfect working order in a little over 2 weeks. If you were to buy it from www.revivehome.com today it would cost $160 US Dollars (about £80) and postage to the UK costs an extra $35 USD (£17.50). This may seem a bit much to spend on a clock, but it's manufactured with German Quartz movement, and needs virtually no maintenance as it keeps great time, and it looks fantastic. There may be the occasional one for sale at a better price on Ebay, or some other websites if you are willing to search around.

The clock, as you can see from the picture above, displays the day, date, month and time and has the following dimensions; 305 x 216 x 78mm. It comes with a fully detachable stand or it can be mounted directly on a wall with just one screw or nail. It weighs in at a meaty, but not too meaty, 890g and runs off the power of just one C-size battery (which will last your for about 3 years).

The clock comes with full instructions, but it's very easy to use. There are a few buttons at the back of the Twemco you just need to press to flip the flaps to the correct date and time. Be careful when setting the date to make sure the 29th February flips over on a leap year (it has a perpetual calendar). It was very exciting in our house a few weeks ago when everyone in the family gathered round at midnight to see the inaugural leap year flip. Well, not everyone gathered round, there were only a few of us. Right, ok, it was just me. I'm the sort of loser that watches a flip clock, flip. So what, there wasn't any wet paint around to watch dry. I don't want to labour the point, but midnight at the beginning of a new month is so enjoyable, 5 flips at once! There's flip over load! It's a veritable flip-fest!

As an ugly man once said 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. I completely understand that there will be some stupid wrong freaks out there who won't appreciate the beauty of the Twemco flip clock. But for those other people out there who are of sound mind, I can't recommend the Twemco highly enough as a contemporary stylish clock for a living area, a bedroom, a study or wherever. It's very functional, I didn't realise quite how often I needed to know the time or even the date while watching telly (picking up the TV remote to check on screen is far too much effort) and the Twemco is right there willing to help me out.

One of the concerns I had before getting the clock was that it would have a loud distracting click every minute on the flip. But it has the perfect volume. If there is silence in the room you will here a deliciously quiet 'schwump', but if you are making any noise at all or watching telly, or even absorbed in a book the noise is so subtle it magically becomes inaudible. On the hour flip there is a louder click, which I find very useful to highlight the time of day, but again it's not so loud that it'll interrupt whatever you are doing, or will wake you from sleeping if you have the clock in a bedroom.

We have a white clock in my house, but it is also available in black, yellow or red if that's what you'd prefer. Revivehome.com also has a larger version of our Twemco clock available with the following stats:

Dimension: 422 x 318 x 118mm
Weight: 2.5kg
Power by: 2 D-size battery (last appox. 2yrs)
Cost: Approx £220 plus £17.50 P&P

You'll notice that despite my glowing review for the Twemco flip clock I have only given it 4 stars out of 5. I'll concede that the Twemco is a bit pricey and it isn't that readily available, so I've rated it with my head rather than my heart. If I were to rate with my heart it would easily be a 5 star product. The price tag just proves that you have to pay for class. The limited availability, to all intents and purposes, creates an exclusive club for proud owners. When I walk pass my Twemco it fills me with pride and I can't help but cry out "straight men aren't completely useless!" Then my wife will walk past and give me a slap and tell me to stop being a tw*t.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Every home should have a Twemco

Overall

Since the Inka people are, of course, perfectly aware of the existence of Space Pens, and know that lots of other people are too, my thinking is that they'd go out of their way to point out their advantages over the opposition, if they had any.

I guess they don't.

So they just pretend Space Pens don't exist, spout some promotional BS and hope to sell their basically identical product to people who've never heard of the 40-year-old competition.

Then again, I suppose they wouldn't sell a whole lot of pens if they honestly described their product as "Like a Fisher, but fiddly, more expensive, black ink only, and with a ring on the end".

The Inka Pen works well enough. But it's an answer to a question that someone else already answered before I was born.

I can't figure out why they bothered to make this thing.

From: [LR]
To: reg@coffeetamper.com
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:13:01 -0600
Subject: A few questions

Hi Reg,

My name is Lucas, I live in Bozeman, MT, USA, and I'm a coffee enthusiast. I have a few questions for you.

(1) I see that you have a purple powder-coated handle, but purple is not listed as a complete tamper. Can I buy a complete purple tamper?

(2) Is it possible to get a Zebrawood or Tulipwood tamper without the delron? If so, can you possibly engrave right into the wood (as in this photo)?

(3) If I order a powder-coated tamper, can you put my personal logo on the top and put the RB logo on the side (as in this photo)?

Thanks much,
Lucas

Hi Lucas,

Thank you for your enquiry. I have answered in red below.

"In the most recent months we have launched our new website and are still finding a few kinks. You should be able to buy a complete purple tamper. I will look into this as soon as possible. In the mean time, you can order a purple tamper manually through me."

"We do not carry Tulipwood if you supply it we can make one for you. We will be able to make a zebrawood tamper with no delron and engrave directly onto the wood."

"Absolutely, at the time of ordering mention that you would like the RB logo on the side and a custom logo on the top. There will be a $25.00 CAD custom engraving fee."

Best regards,

Julia Barber