Viña del Mar's Flower Clock

Spanish-language Wikipedia says the clock mechanism was made by the Favag factory in Neuchatel, Switzerland, and bought by the municipality in 1962 as part of a plan to beautify the city when Vina del Mar was one of the host cities of that year's FIFA World Cup. The newspaper La Tercera reports that the clock arrived from Switzerland in May 1962, that the idea came from Oscar Martinez Amaro, then head of parks and gardens and a trained agronomist and landscape designer, and that mayor Gustavo Lorca backed the project and found the funds. It adds that the concept was inspired by the flower clock in Geneva and that the clock began telling the time on 15 May 1962. Spanish Wikipedia gives 30 May 1962 as the date of the official inauguration, so the two dates probably mark the start of operation and the formal opening respectively.

The municipal parks and gardens team installed the clock by following a detailed set of instructions that came with the Swiss mechanism, according to La Tercera.

La Tercera says the display is made up of more than eight thousand flowers, including white, pink and red begonias, pyrethrum, echeverias, privet and iceberg roses, which form the base, the numerals and the surroundings of the dial. Atlas Obscura, a travel reference, says the plants were chosen because they bloom through the year and that they are kept low, no more than about ten centimetres, so they do not catch the hands. The large minute and second hands sweep over this living dial. Because the clock sits directly on the hillside and is framed by lawn and garden beds rather than set in a wall or tower, it reads as part of the landscape.

After vandals damaged the mechanism, the clock was fitted on 5 September 2013 with a new GPS-controlled machine, so that it can correct itself automatically if disturbed. Spanish Wikipedia says the new mechanism was made by Relojes Olvera III Generacion in Zacatlan, Puebla, Mexico, and includes digital chimes and melodies that change with the seasons and with important dates.

In the early hours of 19 May 2017, a fallen tree brought down by a landslide during a storm of heavy rain and wind destroyed the clock. The mayor at the time, Virginia Reginato, announced its reconstruction, with new wooden hands to be sent from Mexico. The floral and garden structure was rebuilt within a week, and the fully repaired clock resumed running on 29 June 2017 in a trial period.

La Tercera records a local belief that anyone photographed with the clock behind them will return to Vina del Mar, and reports that thousands of visitors take that photograph each summer. It also says the clock was once a regular stop on the city's traditional horse-drawn victoria carriage tours. The clock is owned by the municipality, and the same article notes that the city had considered recognition of the site as landscape heritage.

Vina del Mar, known as La Ciudad Jardin, the Garden City, was founded under its current name on 28 December 1874 by Jose Francisco Vergara and his wife Mercedes Alvarez. The name, meaning Vineyard of the Sea, comes from vineyards planted in the Marga Marga basin after 1580. Other landmarks include the Quinta Vergara park and the Fonk Museum. The clock is a short stop that fits naturally into a walk along the seafront, and a private guided visit with a vehicle and driver can link it with the beaches and with nearby Valparaiso.