The Balmuda pocket watch is inspired by The Clock
Telling what time it is is not what Balmuda has in mind, but allowing users to experience how they might feel using lights, relaxation time and sounds. It was called The Clockthe pocket watch device it has no hands, but a system called the Hour of Light. It is a dial that uses illumination rather than physical hands to tell the time. The light moves across the face in a slow, pendulum-like arc, a reference the design team made clear by visiting the Foucault Pendulum at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo during development.
A Foucault pendulum moves so slowly that its motion is almost imperceptible in real time, but over hours a complete rotation ensues. The Clock borrows this quality: time appears not as a countdown but as a passage. The body of the watch is made from a solid block of aluminum, resulting in a total weight of 200 grams. THE objective it charges via USB-C and comes in a cloth carrying bag, in case users want to take it with them wherever they go. When they do, the watch-inspired pocket watch can fit in their palms, accompanying them on their travels.
all images courtesy of Balmuda
Device that plays seven recordings
Three functions are inside Balmuda’s pocket watch inspired by The Clock. THE device comes with a Relax Time mode that plays seven original recordings, including rain, river, fireplace, produced at home and with outside musicians. They play three minutes before the alarm goes off, the volume slowly rising. By the time the alarm goes off, the room is already filled with sound, gently waking the user compared to traditional clocks that start with loud sounds. Then there’s the focus timer, which runs from one minute to sixty and has white noise underneath the countdown. All three functions are controlled via the Balmuda Connect app via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Gen Terao, the founder of Balmuda, said that the starting point for The Clock was a personal habit. He played rain sounds on a tablet at night to fall asleep, but the screen lit up the room and interrupted his sleep. The clock offers relief from this by producing sound without emitting light. About half of a person’s day is personal time, including sleep, and Balmuda built The Clock around that half. The phone remains in the other room, while the Clock stays on the bedside table, slowly making users experience the passage of time.
Telling what time it is isn’t what Balmuda has in mind, but letting users experience how it might feel
the shape resembles a pocket watch
the pocket watch-shaped device has no hands, but a system called Light Hour
the system has a dial that uses illumination instead of physical hands to show the time
the device gently wakes the user with a gentle sound
the device has a Relax Time function that plays seven original recordings
