You'll Go Cuckoo Over These Eight Modern Clocks from Italy's Diamantini and Domeniconi.

I happen to be Cuckoo for Cuckoo Clocks as indicated by a previous round up of modern cuckoos I posted way back in 2007. It's been awhile and since then many new ones have been realized by Italy's Diamantini & Domeniconi, cuckoo and otherwise. Here are a few of my new favorites, all recent designs from within the past two years.

Cucobo by Lorenzo Damiani, 2011

Mantle cuckoo clock, taken from the classic idea of the house, functionally reinterpreted: the roof is the lid of the box you can open to change the batteries and set the time.


Chalet by Studio Interno 2011

The Chalet wall clock takes the classic idea of the Swiss house and reinterprets it in a modern style.



Coco by Enrico Azzimonti, 2011

Coco is a suspended cuckoo clock that can be placed at different heights, brought up or down or rotated in the air, much like a cloud. Two lacquered metal pendulums gently swing back and forth.



Plex LED by Studio Interno, 2011

A cuckoo clock of minimal inspiration with clock hands located under the plexiglass dial and small pedestal feetm making it a tabletop cuckoo clock. The clear methacrylate can be matched to the different lacquered versions of the frames. It is also available in a version with an opaline plexiglass dial inside a white frame. The clock contains LED lights, emitting soft lighting that can be turned on or off.




Polefimo by Enrico Azzimonti, 2011


The base of this clock is actually a money box (or piggy bank as more commonly referred to in the US) allowing you to empty your pockets and archive the coins. Just lift the clock from its base to easily retrieve your coins. The 'eyes' of the Polifemo clock reveal the time.



Tablito e Tablita by Enrico Azzimonti, 2011

A small blackboard clock with chalk you can hang on the wall, on the fridge in the kitchen or anywhere you'd like. You can write in the clock numbers or leave a message, draw numbers or give it a face.

Tablito changes with your feelings. You can add graphics - give him a smile or add thousand hands- and then take them off with the magnetic felt eraser.


Back Nature by Roberto Rizzi, 2010

“Back Nature” is a monument dedicated to Nature. Its modus operandi is inspired by the Baroque style, and has many natural elements in one monochromatic composition.



Icona 225 and Icona 226 by Giovanni Levanti, 2010


The Icona cuckoo clocks are modern geometric wooden cuckoo clocks presented in warm and tasteful matt colours.


Diamantini & Domeniconi

You can find these and other Diamantini and Domeniconi clocks at the following online stores:
Unica Home
Switch Modern
Vraiment Beau
My Marca

The Domino Wall Clock From The Carbon Design Group.

from the press release:
We live in a hectic world. Alerts, alarms, and reminders prod us through our days with unforgiving precision. Challenging this pressure-filled environment, the Domino Clock™ takes a simple, iconic object and transforms it into a new way to tell time. The concept is simple. Three larger-than-life dominoes are equipped with articulating dots that flip back-and-forth between black and white to keep time. They hang on the wall or stand free, communicating wirelessly as they quietly mark the passing hours and minutes. By subtly abstracting the idea of time, Carbon’s Domino Clock creates a more relaxing experience.



Challenging Expectations. While the idea itself is pretty straight forward, it challenges the assumptions we make about familiar objects. "People have a lot of immediate associations with everyday things, especially iconic ones," says Joe Sullivan, industrial designer at Carbon Design Group, a Seattle-based product development consultancy. "It’s interesting to play with these expectations. In this case, we’re taking a well-known object out of its normal context and giving it new capabilities, allowing it to function as something completely different."




"The numbering scheme on dominoes and dice developed as a way to represent numbers that’s immediately recognizable, so in a lot of ways it makes perfect sense to use it as a time piece," explains Sullivan. "Everyone gets it, but the fact that we’re not used to seeing it in this context makes it unexpected at the same time. It’s this shift in context that gives the concept a twist."



Fueling the Passion. The Domino Clock was one of a number of ideas bubbling up in the Carbon studio when it was selected to be a Carbon Passion Project. Similar to Google’s 20% Time, Carbon’s Passion Projects are designed to fuel the creative spark. "They’re a way to push the boundaries… to try something new, to take a break from the constraints of client projects and play a little," explains Dan Blase, President of Carbon Design Group. "These projects foster Carbon’s culture of learning and play, and, at the same time, give our team the variety they thrive on."

Making it Real. Simple ideas often require a good deal of work to keep them simple. "Form-wise, it’s a very literal reference to a domino, so 95% of the up-front heavy-lifting from an aesthetic standpoint is defined from the get-go," says Sullivan. Once the form is set, the conversation moves quickly to feel and function. The reference to real dominoes plays heavily here as well. From their playful falling motion, to the weight of the ceramic materials in your hand, dominoes have very specific physical qualities inherent to them. "The clock wants to communicate these same qualities, from the materials down to the precise motion of the dots."



"If you imagine a domino scaled up to a foot tall, it would be quite heavy and have considerable inertia. The mechanism that creates the motion needs a sense of gravity to it to give the flip the feel of falling," says Sullivan. It was up to Eric Davis, one of Carbon’s mechanical engineers, to solve the challenge of creating a small mechanism that generated this slow movement, yet was very quiet. The additional challenge of powering thousands of transitions a day without burning through batteries meant Davis would need to design a custom actuator. Ultimately, he developed a mechanism that runs off a small, electromagnetic coil. "You might call it a ‘single-poled motor,’" says Davis. "The magnet and the iron move around the coil… opposite the way motors are usually designed." The device can be fine-tuned to get just the desired flip speed. And, best of all, power is only required to initiate the movement, and not while the device is in either the black or white resting state. A more detailed explanation and video demonstration of the Domino Clock proof of concept prototype is available on Carbon’s site.

A Modern Take On Nixie Tube Clocks from BDDW, Chronotronix, Puhlmann and Peter J. Jensen

Most Nixie tube clocks ordinarily look a little steam punk and a little scientific a la Thomas Dolby. But I found a few companies that make nixie clocks pretty enough for almost anyone's taste. The neon tubes, when combined with blackened bronze, silver chrome, and stunning woods, become an unusual blend of science and art, making a functional item a pretty piece of home decor.

What is a digital Nixie Tube?

A nixie tube is an electronic device for displaying numerals or other information. The glass tube contains a wire-mesh anode, and multiple cathodes in the shape of Arabic numerals. Applying power to one cathode surrounds it with an orange glow discharge. The tube is filled with a gas at low pressure, usually mostly neon and often a little mercury and/or argon, in a Penning mixture (Weston 1968), (Bylander 1979,).


above: A typical Nixie tube clock.

How Nixie Tubes work:
Each glass tube typically contains 10 or more individual cathode wires in the shape of numbers or letters. The cathodes are stacked so that different numerals appear at different depths, unlike a planar display in which all numerals are on the same plane relative to the viewer. The anode is a transparent metal mesh wrapped around the front of the display. The tube is filled with the inert gas neon (and other gases) with a small amount of mercury. When an electric potential of 120 to 180 volts DC is applied between the anode and any cathode, the gas near the cathode breaks down and the digit spreads into a glow.

1. The NIXIE desk clock

Above: Silver plated bronze exterior with digital nixie tubes.
The desk clock easures 6"H x 11.5"W x 2.5"D and is available in Blackened bronze, Natural bronze, Silver plated

2. The NIXIE wall clock



Above: Bronze exterior with digital nixie tubes.
The wall clock measures 21.25"H x 9.5"W x 2"D and comes in Blackened bronze or Natural bronze

3. The WOODEN NIXIE Grandfather clock



Above: Wood exterior with digital nixie tubes.
Measures 75"H x 10.75"W x 7"D and is available in American white oak / Dark oak finish, Osage orange / Natural oil finish, Claro walnut / Natural oil finish

Known mostly for their hand crafted wood furniture, BDDW makes stunning tables, chairs, mirrors, lamps and rugs, too. You can inquire about their nixie clocks and see all their beautiful furniture and rug designs as well here.




Another company making Nixie tube clocks that have updated them with wood and chrome finishes is Nixie Clock.net. Since 1997 they've sold Nixie Tube Clocks and living accessories. The company is located in Germany and they run a warehouse in the United States in order to improve their service standard. Having started retailing Nixie Clocks they are now developing their own Nixie Tube Clocks and below are some of their models.

CHRONOTRONIX V400 NIXIE TUBE CLOCK:


Buy it here.

The CHRONOTRONIX V300 NIXIE TUBE CLOCK:

Buy it here.

Unfortunately the CHRONOTRONIX IN-18 NIXIE CLOCK shown below is sold out:



As is this lovely one made by Karlsson:


Check out their inventory and pricing here.
The ones above can also be found here at Chronotronix Nixie Tube Clocks.

The Puhlmann Nixie Clock designed by dutch designer Frank Clewits is another nice modern version:



Above: wallclock with Nixie-tubes, steel, L32,5 x H 16cm, incl. adaptor

Unfortunately, I can not find this clock for sale anywhere. Even the puhlmann shop doesn't seem to have it.

Another site that sells handmade nixie clocks, as well as nixie clock kits, is Peter J. Jensen's tubeclock.com.



And if you are digging the nixies, check out this gallery of homemade nixie tube clocks.