RIJOMAX – the most complete clock in the world

13 hours ago

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It was in 1945, when the world was not a calm place, that Amândio José Ribeiro began building the great Rijomax, which he would only finish in 1973. At that time it was common for watch brand names to be plays on their owners' names, such as Otar, belonging to Mr Rato, Zap, belonging to Mr Paz, or Said, belonging to Mr Dias. Mr Ribeiro José gave his maximum, included the maximum number of complications, and so the Rijomax was born.

https://youtu.be/c0knuk6k08A

Some watchmakers start early in the profession, others start late; Amândio started at the age of 7.

One of his first jobs was making wheels for clocks. He began by learning watchmaking, and only later went to school, an unusual path. Having completed the fourth year of primary school, he went to work for a goldsmith's shop. As might be expected, he became a highly talented watchmaker and goldsmith, always meticulous and persistent.

Over the course of 28 years, the Rijomax took 16,000 hours to build. It must not be forgotten that this is the maximum clock: it therefore has 45 dials and could perform 34 functions simultaneously. In addition to the hours, minutes and seconds, it gave the following indications:

position of the Sun
position of the Moon
world time
lunar time
it marked leap years, automatically suppressing 24 years every 128 years
days of the week
weeks,
months,
days
days remaining until the end of the month,
years,
days of the year,
number of days until the end of the year,
seasons of the year,
signs of the zodiac,
half-years,
quarters,
day of the week on which each month begins,
leap years,
dates of the phases of the moon.

It indicated the days of the week and the weeks, the months, the days of the month and how many days remain until the end of the month, the years, the days of the year and how many days remained until the end of the year. The seasons, the signs of the zodiac, the half-years, the quarters, the day of the week on which each month begins and also the leap years, the dates of the phases of the moon and the change in the weather.

Divided into four wooden cabinets, this clock also indicated sunrise and sunset, when the days grow longer and shorter, and the number of hours and minutes in the day and in the night, that is, the temporal hours. It marked the phases of the moon, the Equinoxes and the Solstices.

It also indicated the numbers of the Solar Cycle, the Golden Number, the Epact, the Dominical Letter, the chronological eras, the days of the Christian era, and the centuries.

It showed public holidays and Saints' days, and it also had a barometer, a thermometer and a dial for the cardinal points. It woke you with music of your choice or with a bell, and switched on a light. It spoke, telling the time and giving a greeting in religious vocabulary, and it also has a device that called the owner of the house.

This clock, 2 metres tall, weighs more than 150 kilos and has more than 16 thousand numerals and letters. The clock was programmed to run for 100 thousand centuries in cycles of 6272 years.

This clock was so complete that it was also possible to find out landmark dates, national and international, such as the date of the first aeroplane flight, the construction of the first wireless telephone, as well as the radio recorder and the call detector.

Unfortunately the clock stopped, and since Amândio died in 2002 nobody has ever had enough dedication to set the clock running again.

The Rijomax even entered the Guinness Book and is patented under number 12931. In 2002, Amândio decided to sell this work of art to the Câmara Municipal de Tabuaço, and it is currently in the Loja Interactiva de Turismo de Tabuaço, where it can be admired.

Watch this report that Prof. José Armando Saraiva made about the Rijomax with Amândio José Ribeiro, for the programme Horizontes de Memória on RTP memória. (between minutes 08:25 and 13:01)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoW-YYkN1aE&t=761s

The information and images in this article are available in greater detail on the website of the Câmara Municipal de Tabuaço.