Fun aside, if you buy a cheap wall clock from a big box store, you can often swap out the clock movement with a vastly superior one for very little money. A nice Seiko movement with a sweep second hand can be had for under $20.
It is miles better than the $5 Ikea clock, but I see no reason to pay more since the $12 one looks good and runs perfectly well.
That most people do not care about the quality of the movement is why Wal-Mart has lots of shells with the same movements.
Because the parts fit better, there is less friction. Less of a load on the motor means the battery lasts much longer in a Seiko.
They also keep time better.
I laughed out loud as I can hear my alarm clock ticking 8ft away thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk quite loudly. You can actually hear it from the living room if the TV is off, perhaps I should look into something made a bit better.