Time Telling
1. The Sundial – What made the sundial a turning point in time telling was its circular clock face.
The earliest sundials were used as early 1500 BC in ancient Egypt. They were the first two
divide the day into two 12 hour periods. The problem with sundials was that they relied on
shadows from the sun to work, so you could not read them on cloudy days or at night.
2. Mechanical Clocks – After the sundial, many new ways of telling time were invented, but none
of them were as influential as the mechanical clock. The first mechanical clocks were made in
the 13th century and were usually part of a church or other important building. They chimed
bells on the hour, so even those who could not see or read the clock face could be aware of the
time of day.
3. Spring-driven clocks – The invention of spring-driven clocks in the early 15th century brought
timekeeping to the home. These new clocks were much smaller and more portable than their
predecessors.
4. Watches – Watches came soon after spring-driven clocks, in the late 15th century. Now people
could carry the time around in their pocket or on their wrist. Their small size and cheaper pricepoint made time-telling even more accessible to the average person.
Top Companies
1. Swatch Group
◦ Shares: 6,607,649
◦ Share price: $420
◦ Net worth:
◦ CEO: Nicolas Hayek
◦ Salary: Unknown, but net worth is 3.9 billion
2. Casio
• Net worth: 4,616,000,000
• Shares: 471,693,000
• Share Price: $5.53
• CEO: Kazuo Kashio Hideaki Terada
• Salary: Unknown
3. Garmin LTD.
◦ Net worth:
◦ Shares: 43,053,219
◦ Share Price: $34.23
◦ CEO: Gary Burrel
◦ Salary: Unknown
Nicolas Hayek was a Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur and co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of the
Board of Swatch Group, one of the top manufacturers of watches. In 2010, he was number 232 on the
list of richest people in the world with a fortune amounting to $3.9 billion. He was born in Lebanon as
the second of three children. His family was well-regarded, and his father made a good living as a
dentist. His younger brother, Sam, was also a CEO of Swatch.
Hayek starting his business career by working for a Swiss reinsurance company as an actuary.
In 1957, Hayek started his own management consulting firm, Hayek Engineering. He quickly gained a
great reputation by successfully consulting and turning around some of Europe's largest multinational
corporations. By the early 1980s, Hayek was regarded as one of the most trusted business figures in
Switzerland and was asked by a group of Swiss bankers to assist in the liquidation of two ailing Swiss
watch companies. Hayek believed that the companies could be turned around by restructuring its
operations and by re-marketing the products.
It just so happened that this restructuring coincided with the invention of the swatch watch. This
watch used 51 parts as opposed to the traditional 91, and as a result was a watch that was 80% cheaper
to manufacture. Instead of liquidating the companies, Hayek merged the two into what is now known
as Swatch Group. The company quickly gained popularity and earned Hayek his fortune.