Suspended in a bubble block of Baccarat crystal and powered by temperature change, Jaeger LeCoultre's Atmos 561 mechanical clock is the work of Australian super-designer Marc Newson (known for designing the Ikepod watch and a million other sleek objects). Newson is reportedly a huge fan of the Atmos and approached the company to collaborate. The result is this eightieth anniversary Atmos.

The Atmos clocks don't need to be wound up. they get all the energy to run from small temperature changes in the encapsulated environment, and can run for years without human intervention.

Its power source is a hermetically sealed capsule containing a mixture of gas and liquid ethyl chloride, which expands into an expansion chamber as the temperature rises, compressing a spiral spring; with a fall in temperature the gas condenses and the spring slackens. This motion constantly winds the mainspring. A variation in temperature of only one degree in the range between 15 and 30 degrees Celsius is sufficient for two days' operation.

The Atmos clock was invented by Neuchâtel engineer Jean-Léon Reutter (1899- 1971). From his youth, he wanted to produce a clock that could be wound by atmospheric fluctuations, and in 1928 he succeeded. Reutter’s patent was first licensed to a French company who exploited it until 1935. Subsequently, it was purchased by Jaeger-LeCoultre

via watchismo