In May 2010, MIES were contacted by the famous clock makers, Smith of Derby, to help and advise them on the packing & transportation of their consignment of Component Parts, Handles & Clock Face for a huge Clock Tower located in Ganzhou, South-East China. When assembled, the clock would become the world’s largest mechanical clock and would also contain the world’s largest ever dials.
The “Harmony Clock Tower” contains a café, rotating restaurant, commercial offices and a specially commissioned “Time Gallery”. Smith of Derby was also commissioned to create the pieces for the “Time Gallery” and MIES was also invited to pack & ship out all the valuable bespoke items and components during January 2011.
The initial shipment of the clock face & dials posed a few logistical problems due to the size, pieces and weights of some of the crates. The total shipment was finalised at 12 crates, weighing close to 10 tonne and also required transportation on a “Freighter Aircraft”. We required the cargo to ship as a whole consignment and we could not afford for the shipment to be “Part Shipped” by the carrier. This can often happen with large consignments of this nature. Our chosen carrier was extremely helpful and co-operative throughout the project. We were also required to “arrive” the cargo on a specific date in Ganzhou. This type of arrangement can be very tricky to achieve, especially when dealing with the Chinese Authorities! To further complicate matters, the consignee required the cargo customs clearing at site in Ganzhou, so we had to transport the shipment by Bonded Truck in order to meet the Chinese Customs regulations.

The photos below show the safe arrival of the crates, containing the Clock Hands, Components & Clock Face, at the airline terminal in Shanghai – May 2010.

The Time Gallery shipment consisted of some 21 crates with a gross weight of nearly 5 tonne. The shipment moved out of the UK by air during a busy time of the year, just around Christmas no less and we had to “arrive” the cargo in Ganzhou early January 2011. Apart from the busy time, we were also confronted with horrendous UK weather conditions, encountering several delays due to heavy snow and airports being closed. Nevertheless, the cargo arrived on time and the Smith of Derby Engineers were able to carry out their installations on schedule. The time pieces contained in the crates are destined for the Harmony Clock Tower, in Ganzhou (see above) and were to be placed in a bespoke Time Gallery Studio within the basement of the Tower.
The pieces consisted of specially made & designed Time Clocks, such as The Sand Clock / The Water Clock / The DNA Clock / The Planisphere Clock and a few more.

The specialised Clocks located in position within the “Time Gallery”

The DNA Clock

The Planisphere Clock

The Pendulum Clock

The finished “Time Gallery” located in the basement of the Harmony Clock Tower at Ganzhou, China.

The final hand-over by Smith of Derby to their customer.