help me find a cool clock

December 14, 2009 4:47 AM

I'm looking for suggestions for a clock that's unique/interesting from a design perspective. My only requirements are that it's illuminated at night, and that it displays time in an easy-to-read XX:XX format (so something like this is out). A perfect example is this, but unfortunately it's just a concept.
posted by helios to Grab Bag (11 answers total)

Have you thought about something like this? It projects the time onto the wall or ceiling. My son had one and found that the projection was so bright it kept him awake, but you can probably turn that off if it's an issue.
posted by b33j at 5:20 AM on December 14, 2009

ThinkGeek has lots of interesting clocks. I love this one.
posted by fish tick at 5:20 AM on December 14, 2009

A nixie clock maybe? These are all homebrewed from a schematic/tubes supplied on the site.

There are lots of ways to hack a clock into an existing object, so if you want something custom and know someone with a little bit of electronics knowledge you could go that route. (Unless this is for a Christmas gift - then don't even think it.)
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 5:36 AM on December 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Same concept as b33j's projection clock, here's Gionannoni's wireless projection clock. Another photo is 2nd from the bottom here. I think it's cool that you can leave the base in one room and place the time sphere in another.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 5:48 AM on December 14, 2009

Sorry. That second link should point here. Photo is 2nd from the bottom.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 5:50 AM on December 14, 2009

Have you used a soldering iron before? Adafruit's Ice Tube clock is quite nifty and it is easy to read.
posted by DJWeezy at 6:34 AM on December 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I saw this one and it looked quite nice in person. That site has it in three other color schemes as well.
posted by mikepop at 6:36 AM on December 14, 2009

I've had a few of the Michael Graves clocks from Target in my life and they're aesthetically pleasing and meet your requirements. My current clock, which I can't find on the website, is a tall column that has the day on the very top, the first row is the hour, and the second row is the minute. The bottom row is AM or PM. They're also pretty inexpensive as far as nifty looking alarm clocks go.
posted by k8lin at 7:10 AM on December 14, 2009

If you got big bank the qlocktwo by biegert & funk is hot.
posted by extrabox at 7:53 AM on December 14, 2009

How about one of those clocks that are encased in thin wood veneer, so that the LED numbers shine through? Like this. it seems to be out of stock everywhere or ridiculously expensive, but I bet it'd be pretty simple to make. Here's one in gray and green.
posted by hydrophonic at 9:07 AM on December 14, 2009

One of the clocks from Furni?
posted by jeri at 7:16 PM on December 15, 2009