Extra Normal Clock

Time has always resisted us. We've mapped it onto sundials, cathedral bells, atomic frequencies — and still it slips through. The Extra Normal Clock acknowledges this quietly, with a design that makes the elusiveness visible. An extension of the Extra Normal Watch — an icon of 1980s design — it carries the same thesis forward: that a timepiece can be both perfectly legible and philosophically honest about what it's measuring. Tokyo-based designer Ross McBride conceived an hour hand that is actually a disk, its hand shape cut away to reveal the numbered face rotating beneath. Numbers drift into view, then vanish. You always know exactly what time it is. You're also reminded, gently, that you never quite hold it. And for all its conceptual ingenuity, it is remarkably easy to read. Across a room, at a glance — the time is immediately clear. The mechanism is the mystery; the clock face is not. One of the most considered timepieces in contemporary design. Minimal without being cold. Clever without announcing itself. Wall-mounted with included hardware, or set on a desk or flat surface using the included stand. Silent movement. From Lemnos, a Japanese clockmaker operating since 1947 and recipient of the Good Design Award. 5-1/8"ø × 1-13/16" depth. Made in Japan. Battery operated, batteries included.