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List of largest clock faces

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A list of permanent working clocks with the largest faces in the world. Entries include all clocks with faces at least 4 m (13 ft) in diameter. Clocks can be located on the exterior or interior of buildings, and towers as well as on the ground as is the case with floral clock faces.

Rank Location Image Diameter No. of
faces 		Chiming Year Structure Country City Remarks Ref
1 Abraj Al Bait Towers 43 m (141 ft) 4 No 2012 Building Saudi Arabia Mecca Tallest building with clock faces. Building 601 metres (1,972 feet) which also makes the clock faces the highest above the ground level
2 Istanbul Cevahir 36 m (118 ft) 1 No 2005 Shopping centre Turkey Istanbul 3-metre-high digits laid on the transparent roof of the centre
3 Bhestan Photo 24.2 m (79 ft) 1 No ? Floral clock India Surat Largest floral clock in the world [1]
4 Aekyung Tower Photo 24 m (79 ft) 1 No 2018 Building South Korea Seoul [2]
5 Park Heroyiv 22 m (72 ft) 1 No 2011 Floral clock Ukraine Kryvyi Rih Constructed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. Minute hand is 13 m (43 ft) [3]
6 Central do Brasil 20 m (66 ft) 4 No 1943 Railway station Brazil Rio de Janeiro Clock tower is 122 m (400 ft) tall [4]
7 Duquesne Brewery 18 m (59 ft) 1 No 1933 Building USA Pittsburgh Largest clock face in USA. Octagonal clock. Has 8.5 m (28 ft) and 6.4 m (21 ft) aluminium hands
8 Colgate Clock (New Jersey) 15.2 m (50 ft) 1 No 1924 Freestanding USA Jersey City Octagonal clock. Originally located on roof of Colgate headquarters building
9 NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building 15 m (49 ft) 4 No 2000(building)
2002(clocks added)		 Building Japan Tokyo Tower is 240 m (790 ft) [5]
10 Abbasabad Photo Archived 2019-01-21 at the Wayback Machine 15 m (49 ft) 1 No 2005 Floral clock Iran Tehran [6]
11 Grozny City Towers 13.6 m (45 ft) 2 No 2011 Building Russia Grozny Minute hand is 7.3 m (24 ft) and hour hand is 5.5 m (18 ft)
12 Rockwell Automation HQ 12.25 m (40.2 ft) 4 No 1962 Clock tower USA Milwaukee Clock tower is 86.25 m (283.0 ft) and is known as the Allen-Bradley clock tower. Each hour hand is 4.8 m (16 ft) long. Each minute hand is 6.1 m (20 ft) long. [7]
13 Niagara Falls Floral Clock 12.2 m (40 ft) 1 No 1950 Floral Clock Canada Niagara Falls [8]
13 Colgate Clock (Indiana) 12 m (39 ft) 1 No 1906 Freestanding USA Clarksville Octagonal clock face. Built for the centennial of the Colgate Company in its original location of Jersey City. Moved to Indiana in 1924 when a larger replacement was made.
14 Alexandra Clock Photo 11 m (36 ft) 1 No 1968 Freestanding New Zealand Alexandra Located on a hill overlooking the town. Currently (as of 2020) not working [9][10]
15 Kentucky State Capitol 10 m (33 ft) 1 No 1961 Floral clock USA Frankfort Located in the grounds of the capitol building. Minute hand 6.1 m (20 ft) and hour hand 4.6 m (15 ft)
16 Gare de Cergy - Saint-Christophe 10 m (33 ft) 1 No 1988 Railway station France Cergy [11]
17 Resovia Office 10 m (33 ft) 1 No 2020 Office building Poland Rzeszów Fifth largest clock face in Europe [12]
18 Aarau railway station 9 m (30 ft) 1 No 1988
[citation needed]		 Railway station Switzerland Aarau Sixth largest clock face in Europe [13]
19 Main building of Moscow State University 9 m (30 ft) 4 No 1953 Building Russia Moscow University has one central tower (no clock face) and four ancillary towers upon which one clock face and a barometer and thermometer are located. Minute hand is 3.9 m (13 ft) [14]
20 Stephen's Green Shopping Centre 8.9 m (29 ft)
[citation needed]		 1 No 1988 Shopping centre Republic of Ireland Dublin
21 St Peter's Church 8.64 m (28.3 ft) 1 No 1534 Church Switzerland Zürich Largest church clock face. The minute hand is 5.73 metres (18.8 ft) and the hour hand is 5.07 metres (16.6 ft)
22 Oslo City Hall 8.6 m (28 ft)
[citation needed]		 1 Yes 1950 Building Norway Oslo Tower with clock on it is known as Oslo Rådhus 2 and is 63 m (207 ft). Building hosts the Nobel Peace Prize each year [15]
23 Christchurch Floral Clock 8.5 m (28 ft) 1 No 1953 Floral clock New Zealand Christchurch Over 7000 plants are required each spring and autumn for the design [16]
24 Torrazzo of Cremona 8.2 m (27 ft) 1 No 1588 Tower Building Italy Cremona Largest clock face in Italy and one of the largest astronomical clock faces in the world.
25 St. Michael's Church, Hamburg 8 m (26 ft) 4 No 1911 Church Germany Hamburg The minute hand is 4.91 m (16.1 ft) and the hour hand is 3.65 m (12.0 ft) 3.65 m. The Clock tower is 132 m (433 ft) [17][18]
26 Met Life Tower 8 m (26 ft) 4 No 1912 Building USA New York Minute hands are 5.2 m (17 ft) and the hour hands are 4.06 m (13.3 ft). Tower 213.4 m (700 ft) tall [19]
27 Philadelphia City Hall 7.9 m (26 ft) 4 No 1901 Clock tower USA Philadelphia Building with clock tower is 167 m (548 ft)
28 Shell Mex House 7.62 m (25.0 ft) 2 No 1930 Building United Kingdom London Largest clock faces in UK
29 Waverly at South Beach 7.62 m (25 ft) 1 No 2000 Building USA Miami Clock Movement weighs 771 kg (1700 lbs) [20]
30 Royal Liver Building 7.6 m (25 ft) 4 Electronic[21] 1911 Clock tower United Kingdom Liverpool Clocks on two towers with building including clock towers 98.2 m (322 ft). Building part of the World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City [22]
31 Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord 7.6 m (25 ft) 1 No 1932 Church Czech Republic Prague
32 Detsky Mir 7.5 m (25 ft) 1 No 2014 Shopping centre Russia Moscow Clock is inside toy shop. Pendulum is 13 m (43 ft) [23][24]
33 Emerson Tower 7.3 m (24 ft) 4 No 1911 Building USA Baltimore The largest four-dial gravity clock in the world. Tower is 88.1 m (289 ft) [25]
34 Minneapolis City Hall 7.2 m (24 ft) 4 No 1906 Clock tower USA Minneapolis Largest four-face chiming clock in the world. Clock tower is 105 m (344 ft). Minute hands are 4.3 m (14 ft) [26]
35 Elizabeth Tower 7 m (23 ft) 4 Yes 1859 Clock Tower United Kingdom London Clock tower is 96 m (315 ft) tall. Commonly known as 'Big Ben', although this is accurately the name of the largest chiming bell. [27]
36 Siemensstadt 7 m (23 ft) 4 No 1909 Tower building Germany Berlin Tower is 75 m (246 ft) [28]
37 Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp) 6.90 m (22.6 ft) 4 Yes 1786 Church Belgium Antwerp Tower is 123 m (404 ft) [29][30]
38 Ayer Mill 6.75 m (22.1 ft) 4 Yes 1909 Clock tower USA Lawrence
39 San Francisco Ferry Building 6.7 m (22 ft) 4 Yes 1898 Building USA San Francisco Clock tower is 74.7 m (245 ft) and houses a private penthouse residence [31][32]
40 Vancouver Block 6.7 m (22 ft) 4 No 1912 Building Canada Vancouver Building is 80.7 m (265 ft). Faces are illuminated at night [33][34]
41 Custom House Tower 6.7 m (22 ft) 1 No 1916 Building USA Boston Due to the installation of an undersized motor, the clock failed to work properly through much of the 20th century
42 Clock Tower of Bologna 6.4 m (21 ft) 1 Yes 1451 Building Italy Bologna [35]
43 Palace of Culture and Science 6.2 m (20 ft) 4 No 2000 Building Poland Warsaw Building constructed in 1955 at a height of 237 m (778 ft). Clock faces added later.
44 Spasskaya Tower 6.12 m (20.1 ft) 4 Yes 1851 Building Russia Moscow The tower is 71 m (232.9 ft) tall [36]
45 Mercantile National Bank Building 6.1 m (20 ft)[37] 4 No 1943 Building USA Dallas Building completed in 1942. Addition of clock tower 1943. Height of building 159.4 m (523 ft) [38][39][40]
46 Old City Hall 6 m (20 ft) 1 Yes 1899 Tower building Canada Toronto Clock tower is 103.6 m (340 ft)
47 Wrigley Building 5.97 m (19.6 ft) 1 No 1924 Building USA Chicago The hour hands are 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) and the minute hands 2.79 m (9 ft 2 in). The building is 133.5 m (438 ft) [41]
48 Clock tower of Padua 5.6 m (18 ft) 1 No 1437 Building Italy Padua [42]
49 Milwaukee City Hall 5.5 m (18 ft) 1 Yes 1895 Tower building USA Milwaukee Tower is 107.6 m (353 ft) tall [43]
50 Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower 5.25 m (17.2 ft) 4 Yes 1908 Clock tower United Kingdom Birmingham Tallest freestanding clock tower in the world at 100 m (330 ft). The hour hand is 3 m (9.8 ft) and the minute hand is 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
51 Jardin Anglais 5 m (16 ft) 1 No 2002 Floral clock Switzerland Geneva Originally created in 1955
52 Brisbane City Hall 4.8 m (16 ft) 4 Yes 1930 Tower building Australia Brisbane Tower is 91 m (299 ft) [44]
53 Manchester Town Hall 4.8 m (16 ft) 4 Yes 1877 Tower building United Kingdom Manchester Tallest town hall clock tower in UK. [45][46]
54 Peace Tower 4.8 m (16 ft) 4 Yes 1920 Tower building Canada Ottawa Tower is 92.2 m (302 ft) tall. Built to commemorate Canadians who lost their lives in World War I [47]
55 Central Railway Station 4.77 m (15.6 ft) 4 No 1921 Tower building Australia Sydney Tower is 85.6 m (281 ft) [48]
56 Royal Palace Photo 4.7 m (15 ft) 1 No ? Floral clock Malaysia Anak Bukit

Temporarily installed clocks

[edit]

A list of clocks with the largest faces that have been installed as temporary structures. Inclusion in this list follows the criteria for the list above except for the temporary nature of the clock.

Rank Location Image Diameter No. of faces Chiming Year Structure Country City Remarks Ref
1 Burning Man Festival Video 3.28 km (2.04 mi) 1 No 2011 Laser USA Black Rock Desert It took 13 months to create the clock [49]
2 Scania Clock Photo 298.5 m (979 ft) 1 No 2016 Articulated lorries Spain Unknown Created with 14 Scania trucks driving in circles for 24 hours at an abandoned airfield [50]
3 World Fair Photos 30 m (98 ft) 1 No 1904 Floral clock USA St Louis Created for the world fair [51]

Demolished clocks

[edit]

A list of the largest faced clocks that have been destroyed or demolished since their construction. Inclusion in this list follows the criteria for the list above except for the fact that the clocks are no longer extant.

Rank Location Image Diameter No. of faces Chiming Year Structure Country City Remarks Ref
1 St. Rumbold's Cathedral 12 m (39 ft) 4 Yes 1705 Church Belgium Mechelen Made by Jacob Willmore in 1705. The hour hand was 3.62m long. The hands were destroyed by German fire during the capture of Mechelen in 1914. The remains of the clock faces were only removed in 1963. The clock itself was preserved and still controls the ringing of the bells. In 2014, the inhabitants of Mechelen decided against the restoration of the dials in a referendum. [52][53]
1 Crystal Palace 40 ft (12 m) 1 No 1862/1876 Building UK Sydenham, London Made by E. J. Dent and installed in the 1862 International Exhibition building. It was moved to the Crystal Palace in Sydenham in November 1876. It was destroyed along with the Crystal Palace itself during the 1936 fire. [54]
2 Singer Factory Clock Video 26 ft (7.9 m) 4 1885 Building Scotland, UK Clydebank Located at the Singer factory in Clydebank, the four-sided clock was mounted in a 200 ft (61 m) tower. The clock, which had become a local landmark, was demolished in a factory modernisation program in 1963 [55]

See also

[edit]
Comparison of some notable four-face clocks at the same scale.
Top-left: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower
Bottom-left: Allen-Bradley Clock Tower (previous record holder)
Middle: Abraj Al Bait
Top-right: Big Ben Clock Tower
Bottom-right: Kremlin Clock

References

[edit]
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  4. ^ "Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
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  6. ^ "Tehran "Flower Clock" rivals Big Ben". www.payvand.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
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