If you want to have several clocks around a building showing teh same time as in railway stations, you can have any watch as a time server.
Now that depends on the LCD. LCDs are generally microprocessor controlled. While LEDs are not so sopisticated.
Matrix LEDs need data to update line by line. (It was there in teh EFY mag a few monthes ago...Do you follow it?)
LCD on the other hand needs square wave pulse in phase and out of phase to show the character on the display. You could buy an old LED watch and break it apart to get the desired type of signals.
Or you could have an IR broadcaster that sends pulse patterns ever second to be decoded by the displays that contain only the counter. This shall save you lot of wiring cost over large distances.