Neon clocks have become a sweet find, delightful to the enthusiast of all things retro. The first neon light signs were made and sold in 1923, when people first stopped on the street to stare at the ‘liquid fire’. It fascinated then, and as you would know, it still fascinates now. It’s quite amazing that a neon light contains chemicals which cause a reaction that glows in that particular colour. Some people may think that a neon clock is glowing blue or red or purple because of some sort of colour filter, but the genuine neon sign or neon clock will actually contain neon, argon, helium, krypton or zenon, for instance. Of course, neon was the first to be trialled, and it glows a reddish colour, but when you think of neon you may well think of blue, because this is one of the neon colours that caused the lighting style to surprise people the most and rise to fame.
A neon clock can be anything from a simple clock face with a neon circle around the outside, or a complex clock face made up of custom neon tubes in different colours, perhaps even spelling out a name or some kind of brand or word that you want to have on your clock.
Really retro home decors need neon clocks – at least one! – to make it fully convincing. Neon is one of those things that as soon as you see it, dates the room to that era immediately and makes you feel like you have walked back in time. They glow in a bright cheerful colour that is sure to tickle visitors when they come to your house, as not many people have a neon clock, so it is bound to stand out.
Although it is possible to find genuine old neon clocks, you would be very lucky – most have been snapped up by hungry collectors, and now only sell for premium prices. But don’t worry – you can easily get replica neon clocks that are even better than the originals! Probably the only downside, or at least the thing you need to consider about a neon clocks is that (1) the light might be annoying if you put it say in a bedroom, or a living space where you want to watch a television and you will need to switch it off manually, and (2) because the neon light is electric you will obviously need a power point to plug into. Is this a big problem? Not really, just something to be aware of. Most modern neon clocks run off a DC plug pack putting out of 9-12 volts, and these thin cords are easy to run behind furniture, cabinets, and similar.
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