Unusual clock

Cryptic Time Pieces, Rarely Seen Designs

Even James Bond would be challenged to quickly tell the time
 from these watches, even with his spy gadget experience. 
Well, telling the time does not seem to be the point here; 
these items exist only because of their exuberant, 
glamorous or wacky design. Most of the watches shown 
here are vintage, some are antique; for the more recent
 examples of "nutty time pieces" read this article.

We'll start with the unique armored military watches, 
which have a long and rich history (more info) -




Pretty strange models, from various watch collections:



(images via)

Swiss watch maker Angular Momentum 
has fun with various bizarre layouts:
See:
Crossed the globe
Amazing clock



This model is appropriately called "Mystery Time Dispay":


(images via)

Do you really need hour, minute or second hands?.. 
The watch dials themselves rotate in this case:



...even more stylish offering with the same idea: 
total absence of hour, minute or second hands...
 (read more about it at YankoDesign - via)




We live in a glorious time for luxury watch enthusiasts:
 many stylish classic watches are made today by 
various prestigious firms, like
Carlo Ferrara - "Dancing Régulateur":



Some of the impressive designs from Audemars Piguet,
Jean d'Eve, Jacob & Co. and others approach art in 
their sophistication and glamor:

Harry Winston's Rare Watches - Opus 6:



Piguet Maserati:



Parmigiani Bugatti :



Harry Winston's Opus V; starting price 100k USD
 (read more here) -



And finally, simplicity itself:
"Alien visitation" clock. (I want one)



Who cares if it might be impossible to tell the time
 quickly and accurately from some of these clocks 
and watches? You might just fall in love with these
 time pieces, and then, you know, "Lovers ever run
 before the clock" (Shakespeare)