RUBIK'S CLOCK  (1988) Brain Puzzle Retro Vintage Toy MATCHBOX

CONDITION: The clock is in good working order. Plastic has only a slight discoloring. The package has the original price tag, and the cardboard and plastic inside have some crumple damage. See photos for more details.

 

"For me, the RUBIK's Clock puzzle is much more than amusement. It tests - and exercises - unique brain powers: the co-ordination of the eye, hand and intellect. The puzzle is full of contradictions. It is both simple and complex, mysterious yet logical, and whilst it may appear impossible, it can be done. But not by everyone! I invite you to put your brain to the test with this my new intriguing challenge? – Professor Erno Rubik, inventor of Rubik's Cube and Rubik's Magic Rings

The Rubik's Clock is a mechanical puzzle invented and patented by Christopher C. Wiggs and Christopher J. Taylor. The Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik bought the patent from them to market the product under his name. It was first marketed in 1988.

The Rubik's Clock is a two-sided puzzle, each side presenting nine clocks to the puzzler. There are four dials, one at each corner of the puzzle, each allowing the corresponding corner clock to be rotated directly. (The corner clocks, unlike the other clocks, rotate on both sides of the puzzle simultaneously and can never be operated independently. Thus, the puzzle contains only 14 independent clocks.)

There are also four pins which span both sides of the puzzle; each pin arranged such that if it is "in" on one side, it is "out" on the other. The state of each pin (in or out) determines whether the adjacent corner clock is mechanically connected to the three other adjacent clocks on the front side or on the back side: thus the configuration of the pins determines which sets of clocks can be turned simultaneously by rotating a suitable dial.

The aim of the puzzle is to set all nine clocks to 12 o'clock (straight up) on both sides of the puzzle simultaneously. A method to do so is to start by constructing a cross on both sides (at 12 o’clock) and then solving the corner clocks individually.