Help me find a small durable clipon clock.

January 8, 2007 3:56 PM

Where can I find a small clip-on clock that is extremely durable - preferably without spending an arm and a leg.

At my work, we have 8 sets of keys for our employees. They are all students, and spend the day setting up furniture and technical equipment in a Student Union Building. We need to find small clocks that can attach to these key chains so that the staff knows when their next task is ready to be done. So far, we have purchased several different products, and all of them have broken within less than a month. We need something that will hold up to some substantial abuse. We also will need to buy at least 8 of them, so something that costs $100 each is not going to fly with the people who control the budget. A digital readout would be ideal, but a regular clock face is fine as well. It doesn't need any special features - it just has to tell the time.

Here is the last one we tried:

http://www.amazon.com/Sneakers-Watch-Black-Purple-3214/dp/B0009VXASE/sr=8-2/qid=1162934888/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-4686673-4034401?ie=UTF8&s=jewelry

The form factor worked great, but all of the watches stopped working within less than a month.

We are starting to run out of ideas. Any suggestions?

posted by markblasco to clothing, beauty, & fashion (13 comments total)

Clocks or watches like that used to have the generic name "nurses' watches" around here. So, maybe they're a feature in shops selling medical equipment.
posted by ijsbrand at 4:03 PM on January 8, 2007

Campmor.com often has Timex watches on a carabiner type clip.
posted by theora55 at 4:14 PM on January 8, 2007

Someone gave me a "Field and Stream" carabiner watch like this. It's been on my harness for two years, bashed into walls, rained on, dropped and abused. I've been amazed how rugged it is.
posted by jet_silver at 4:20 PM on January 8, 2007

Might not at all be suitable but there's a store in Toronto called SWIPE (spelled SW PE) which sells a very small digital clock, about the size of a postage stamp. It has a clip built into it, kind of like the new iPod Shuffle. I think they're $30 or $40 for two.

So, they wouldn't work as a keychain, but they are meant to clip onto the sleeve or front of a shirt. I guess you could also make clip them onto a keychain made of ribbon or something. Not sure SWIPE does mail order but perhaps they could tell you the manufacturer so you can look at pictures.
posted by dobbs at 4:22 PM on January 8, 2007

Not a recommendation here but since you need to buy more than one, I'd suggest getting 8 different kinds and see which is most durable.
posted by chairface at 4:36 PM on January 8, 2007

Is there a reason why you couldn't modify an inexpensive but durable digital watch to be a key fob? $10-20 bucks or so would go a long way in the regular watch world these days.

An alternative idea would be to buy really inexpensive basic watch innards or inexpensive watches and cast them in blocks of clear resin or epoxy, or sandwich them in a small block of plexiglas, lucite or something similar.

Put fresh batteries in them before casting and set the time, and/or leave pinholes in the casting for setting the time with a push pin.

But if you get identical model quartz clocks of a decent manufacture, and the keys spend the majority of their time in similar temperatures and environments, they should stay within a minute or two of each other for about the life of their batteries. As a group they might drift a bit more over the years but, hey, they're 50 cents each or so.

If this sounds too difficult to accomplish personally, hit up a fabrication shop, theater prop department, engineering undergrad or maintainance guys you may have nearby on campus, or what have you. Speaking from experience, if they have the time they love this kind of stuff. Buy the materials and parts and some lunch, and trade 'em a cleanup or favor or something and you're all square for cheap.


Also, consider re-arranging how you handle the keys.

If you aren't already doing so, would you consider putting the keys on a split ring on one of those webbed nylon neck lanyards that are popular on campuses? If so, you could mount a small watch or clock on the lanyard a little ways away from the keys, so that when the students put the lanyard around their necks, or (more commonly) when they put it in their pockets with the lanyard hanging out like a tail - the keys are seperated from the watch, reducing stress and abuse on the watch.


Finally, what modern college student doesn't have like 50 cell phones? How do they not have some kind of clock on them at any and all times?
posted by loquacious at 4:55 PM on January 8, 2007

Well, the cell phones are the reasons we need the clocks - the only way we can make sure they are out working and not using their phones on the clock is to make sure they leave their phones in the office while they are working.
posted by markblasco at 5:00 PM on January 8, 2007

Tempo Time Tags are $18 for 2. Link goes to a review. I don't know if they are acceptable, but it looks like you could put a keychain through that round hole on the back of the clip. They seem to be backordered at several of the top Google results, so here's one store where they're not.
posted by IndigoRain at 7:23 PM on January 8, 2007

The Tempo Time Tags are what SWIPE sells.
posted by dobbs at 8:44 PM on January 8, 2007

I have a pair of Tempo time tags. They're like a slightly fat paper clip. I'd say the biggest problem is they're so small its easy to lose them.
posted by vacapinta at 10:09 PM on January 8, 2007

Well, the cell phones are the reasons we need the clocks - the only way we can make sure they are out working and not using their phones on the clock is to make sure they leave their phones in the office while they are working.

Roger. Man, if it's that bad make 'em wear a big wall clock on a chain like Flava Flav.
posted by loquacious at 11:17 PM on January 8, 2007

I've had good experiences with clip-on watches from Dakota Watch Company . Search for "clip" on their site, and you'll see a number of options. I bought my partner the Mini-clip microlight, a couple of months ago, and it seems very durable.
posted by SomePerlGeek at 7:18 AM on January 9, 2007

I swear by these clip timers sold by Eddie Bauer. They show the date and time and also have a stop watch feature. They last and last. I use and abuse them for a few years at a time before they give it up. They are about $5.50 right now as they are on sale. I will probably stock up.
posted by kellygreen at 6:28 PM on January 11, 2007