General information

• Can be used all over the world, at any position on Earth between 70°S and 70°N.
• Central European Time or any other standard time.
• Integrated global map.
• The sun's migration around the world.
• Solar Compass.
• Collapsable and portable attached to belt.
• English instruction pamphlet.
• 10 years producer's warranty.

The ICARUS is the first portable sundial which you can adjust for our modern, time-zone-regulated time. You can read off Central European Time (CET) or the standard time in any other time zone in the world. It will also display summer time (daylight saving time), as frequently used in various parts of the world.

The ICARUS remains true to its origins: the apparent movement of the sun from east to west across the earth, source of our time measure- ment, can be followed on the sundial in real time. The shadow shows you where in the world the sun is reaching its culmination at this moment in time, that is, where noon is taking place.

The ICARUS can also be used as a solar compass, which works without a magnetic needle. You set the latitude and, using the date scale, the ellipsoid integrated in the gnomon is positioned according to the sun’s position at this time of the year. Turn the instrument until the ellipsoid’s shadow has reached the time ring. Now the sundial is aligned directly toward the south, the gnomon points to the polestar and its shadow indicates the correct time. The ICARUS can even be used for navigational purposes, to determine the geographic coordinates of your current position.

The 17th and 18th centuries – when mechanical clocks were still too expensive and inaccurate – were the heyday for portable sundials showing local apparent time. The fact that this time, defined by the position of the sun, is susceptible to seasonal variations and differs from location to location was no great drawback in a period when the stagecoach was the fastest means of transport. Only the advent of the railway and telegraphy made long-distance travel and global communication pos- sible. The introduction of today’s standardised time, uniformly synchronised and divided into 24 time zones, is the inevitable consequence of these developments. The ICARUS is the first portable sundial which can handle our modern time standard. Wherever you are or wherever you would like to be in the world, the ICARUS will display the valid standard time for that country.