Nixie tubes were the original numerical display. With their fully formed digits glowing a bright, pleasing orange, they were an instant hit when they were introduced in 1954. They literally lit up the New York Stock Exchange, cruised under the sea aboard Navy submarines, and winked by the hundreds at NASA mission controllers guiding rockets to the moon.
The tubes have not been manufactured in the United States or Europe since 1975. But now, home hobbyists are using the increasingly scarce supplies of the tubes to build stylish digital clocks that are reminders of the bygone era of slide rules, horn-rimmed glasses, and, of course, pocket protectors. The clocks are selling for as much as US $1200 to collectors and design aficionados who prize their authentically retro look. Connoisseurs now treat some remaining tubes like vintage wine, bidding as much as $450 apiece for certain rare and coveted specimens (typically giant ones up to 15 cm long). Looking for a gift for the technology enthusiast who has everything? This could be it.
The article in the June issue of IEEE Spectrum features 12 remarkable Nixie-tube clocks by seven designers. Examples include a 200-volt Nixie-tube wristwatch and a Japanese clock that is controlled by satellites.
Ironically, in their heyday Nixies were seldom used in clocks, because the cost of a set of tubes and the required chips made the clocks expensive compared to mechanical ones. But now, at last, they seem to have found an ideal if belated use in clocks. Not only do Nixies put a delicate and whimsical face on the most utilitarian of appliances, their retro look is a vivid reminder of the passage of time.
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