The new DINN musical clock by Alessandro Zambelli for Diamantini & Domeniconi shows its minimalist nature and uncovers a precious and ‘dinging’ heart’. The Italian musician-designer Alessandro Zambelli was inspired by the Concerto No. 2 for violin and orchestra, known as “La Campanella” (the little bell), of the whimsical genius of Niccolò Paganini.
The stark, round face takes bare essentials almost to an extreme. The material is MDF and comes in white and light oak. Within the circle is one bright, attention-grabbing spark of originality. A small, unexpected bell contrasts brassily with the painted face of the timepiece. This precious detail stands out as the clock’s ‘dinging’ heart. The visual impression made by the hands, in anthracite-coloured aluminium, is equally powerful. Clearly they are key features of its idiosyncratic, passing strike mechanism. In fact the minute hand terminates in a tiny hammer which nudges the clapper of the bell hourly, ‘on the dot.’ As the clapper swings, it rings the bell, making a noise that inspired the device’s name: ‘DINN’.
The ‘musical’ clock is on preview at the 2014 fall Maison et Objet – stand (A33-B34, Hall 8).
all images courtesy of ALESSANDRO ZAMBELLI