Renowned Japanese studio nendo has unveiled a clock that becomes a perfect cube twice a day. Designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of luxury watch retailer The Hour Glass, the clock aims to “blur the lines between art, design and watches”.
The Cubic Clock is designed in the shape of a slanted cube thanks to a sliced-off vertex that allows the clock to balance on its corner. Rather than adding extra “unnecessary parts and materials” to the clock, the studio cut two slivers of aluminum from one of the corners to form the hands, resulting in a clock that reveals it’s true form, only twice in a day.
The long and the short hands overlap one another 22 times throughout the day, but only at noon and midnight they will meet in the vertical-upright position and will complete the cube’s shape, as if time is reset after completing a twelve-hour cycle.
“For but a moment, all indication of time disappears and the mind is offered a chance to reset,” explains The Hour Glass. “The unconventional form and clever subtlety of the cubic clock embodies all the thoughtfulness, humour and refinement which defines Nendo as a design studio.”
“It is of course an object which tells the time, but is also an object of our time whose form and aesthetic captures the very best qualities of good design today,” it added.
The Cubic Clock was designed for The Hour Glass’ anniversary exhibition, titled Then Now Beyond, which is running until 31 January 2020 at the 8,000 square-foot Malmaison by The Hour Glass emporium in Singapore.
The clock was made as a limited edition series of 10, and is available to buy at the Then Now Beyond exhibition.