An then there is Dieter Binninger[1] who not only build the weirdest clock of Berlin[2] (still working) but also developed a Langlebensdauerglühlampe with a guaranteed life time of 150.000 hours.

[1] http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Binninger [german]

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengenlehreuhr