Smallest Rube Goldberg machine: Seiko sets world record (VIDEO)
TOKYO, Japan -- Seiko used 1,200 mechanical watch parts—some smaller than one millimeter in size—to construct an incredibly intricate and elegant Rube Goldberg machine; Seiko filmed the sequence for an advertisement and titled it "Art of Time", setting the new world record for the Smallest Rube Goldberg machine, according to the World Record Academy. Photo: The World's Smallest Rube Goldberg machine is composed of 1200 mechanical watch parts, the smallest being less than a millimeter in size.
Photo: Seiko (enlarge photo)
The Guinness World Records world record for the largest Rube Goldberg consists of 382 separate steps, and was achieved by Balázs Németh, Zoltán Németh, Bálint Kovács, Péter Wéber, Péter Tarjányi, Dávid Cserich, Mészáros Zsófia, Hodován István, Bálint Kozma, Timót Matuska and Tamás Polcsik (all Hungary) as demonstrated in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, on 23 April 2015.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the smallest washing machine; it measures 256 x 278 x 382 mm (10.08 in x 10.94 in x 1 ft 3.04 in) and was manufactured by Qingdao Haier Washing Machine Co.Ltd (China) and was unveiled in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China, on 18 May 2011. The net weight of the washing machine is 5.33 kg (11 lb 12 oz), with the normal washing capacity of 0.15 kg (0 lb 5.29 oz).
The video is set to a song composed by Seiko CEO Shinji Hattori. Seiko employees wrote the lyrics and Etsuko Yakushimaru sang them.
The mini-machine is fashioned from 1200 mechanical watch parts—some smaller than 1 millimeter in size. Not surprisingly, its end goal is to add a final part to a newly made Seiko watch.
From Seiko's video description:
"The art of time blends the clockmaker's artistry with 47 types and 1200 individual mechanical watch parts--some as small as 0.7 mm across! A stage setting of beautiful precision embodies our group slogan: SEIKO. Moving ahead. Touching hearts. The image song used for the background music includes the words and thoughts of Seiko's employees."
