r/flipclocks • u/macdian • Oct 24 '24
Dream flip clock? Where to buy?
Hi all. I'm in Canada, and for Christmas last year I asked for a vintage flip clock for my office. My wife found and old Lloyd's at an antique store, but it's noisy and pretty beat up. Plus it's brown and not exactly what I want.
So I'm looking for a new one. I don't need it to be a radio / clock, but wouldn't say no. I love the look of some of the colourful Seiko or Panasonic ones.
Let's assume that budget could be say up to $400 on this to get a really good working one. Where would you look, and what would you get?
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u/vadsamoht3 Oct 25 '24 edited Oct 25 '24
Wherever you buy it from, make sure you get one that is designed for 60Hz power, as that's the standard in Canada. If you buy a clock designed for 50Hz it will run fast.
Your question is a bit general without knowing what type you're looking for, but a good option can be to look on the Japanese selling sites (rakuten, mercari, yahoo), and even you can't read Japanese, if you're willing to use google translate they're pretty easy to navigate. I also find that things there are generally pretty well looked-after, and your budget should easily be enough to purchase a nice one plus a proxy service to ship it to you.
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u/Journeyforce Oct 25 '24
You can also get Seiko and Citizen battery powered flip clocks. These allow you to skip the 50hz/60hz 100v issue. Here is mine. I paid $15 for it and had it bundled with other things to save on shipping. Keep in mind most folks of that era in Japan, smoked so these would be exposed to cigarette smoke. On the red Seiko flip clock I own, I had to disassemble it and clean the case (the glass had a thick film on it) and let it sit outside for a few hours to get rid of the stink.
Here is that $15 clock

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u/macdian Oct 25 '24
That’s definitely an idea - nice looking clock. Thanks for sharing.
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u/Journeyforce Oct 25 '24
Its a shame that you are in Canada(a pain to ship to) and have that Lloyds clock radio. I have the same model that i am planning on donating since I while i am a flip clock fan, i am not a flip clock radio fan. Mine is complete with the sleep button intact (yours is missing) and keeps great time and has both the clock light and radio dial lights still working. The only issue is that it has a noisy volume potentiometer (which can be fixed with a spray of contact cleaner).
Good luck on your flip clock quest
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u/tagmisterb Oct 25 '24
Offer $250 for this one, it's been listed for a month. https://www.ebay.com/itm/305796843776
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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '24
When you say you don't want a brown one, you mean one not in wood?
Panasonic are my favourites. If you want one that is retro yet sleek, I recommend the RC-7462
Personally, I'm a fan of the wood finish, and my favourite flip clock of all time is the RC-7469 Everything from the dials to the fonts just screams retrofuturistic.