Back in the old days, when there were no watches or clocks around, the hourglass was the essential instrument to measure the passage of time. Featuring two glass bulbs connected vertically through a narrow neck, which allowed a regulated trickle of sand to go from the top bulb to the lower one, hourglasses have quickly become a symbol as well, that’s why their timeless aesthetic remains charming to this day.
The renowned industrial designer Marc Newson has been so fascinated by this captivating time-telling device that he decided to make his own hourglass version, that’s a little bit more refined and of course, more modern. The man associated with the Apple Watch has teamed up with Hodinkee and imagined the Marc Newson Hourglass, a $12,000 handcrafted, functional piece of art that’s made of hand-blown borosilicate glass. It also comes with a special leather coaster, preventing it from getting damaged in any way.
You just can’t look away, can you? Marc Newson’s Hourglass is particularly special due to the fact that it uses stainless steel Nanoballs, replacing the traditional grains of sand. Each of these minuscule spheres measures just 0.6 mm in diameter and was covered first with copper and then with an anti-corrosion layer to get a wonderful visual effect.
1.3 million such Nanoballs fill up the hourglass, working together to measure out exactly 10 minutes. Please note that only 100 such jewels will be ever sold, but you’ll have to wait quite a lot to get your very own. At this time, only 6 complete hourglasses like these exist. So, what will you countdown to?
[Hodinkee]
