At Pendulux, one of our biggest inspirations is the military, especially aircrafts used by the U.S armed forces during combat for World War II and throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. We have a lot of respect for pilots both past and present who fly these marvels and wanted to pay homage to them with a few of our designs. In fact, our altimeter and yoke clocks replicate components pulled directly from those now retired yet beloved planes. We use materials just like the ones used in the original cockpits, like real cast aluminum and heavy-duty brass accents, trying our best to replicate the piece’s authentic character.
In the bygone era circa World War II, before digital displays dominated a pilot’s operating quarters, a typical cockpit instrument panel featured virtually all dial-based meters, each with a different measurement pertaining to that specific plane and/or flight. Originally, instruments like the kind that houses our clocks would have been used to give information on altitude, airspeed, and direction, among other indicators.
If you’ve ever wondered about the roots of the word itself, “cockpits” were first called as such in World War I, when pilots used it as metaphor for the scene of combat that they took part in from their seat in the plane. The metaphor itself, however, dates all the way back to 16th century English texts, as a word that described the deep pits where cockfighting took place. Today, the word is universally used.
