Tangent Shelf Clock

A self-balancing shelf clock. Using a continuous movement clock mechanism Tangent is a silent clock, with no audible tick or tock. The cement body is carefully weighted so if moved will always return to its correct position. At nearly 6 lbs this sculptural clock has a lovely weighty feeling to it without being so heavy as to overwhelm the shelf or other surface it is placed on. 

We have always wanted to design a very minimal clock that was unlike traditional clocks - one that was almost more sculptural than functional, pushing the boundaries of the readability of time. After some initial design concepts we came across an idea where the hands rotated in front of the shelf it was placed on, time itself blending into its surrounding environment. We found beauty in the consequential fragility of the hands being exposed, freed from the glass box they are so often held within. 

Clock on desk

Initially developed with black time hands we later released an alternative white time hands version - keeping in line with our color pallet of black, white and brass. The cylindrical shape was inspired by cement core samples used to evaluate key qualities and characteristics of concrete:

  • Strength and density determination
  • Depth of carbonation of concrete
  • Chemical analysis
  • Water/gas permeability
  • Petrographic analysis
  • ASHTO Chloride permeability test

Clock with white hands

Tangent on a shelf with plants

Minimal tangent on white shelf

As with many of our products Tangent was only available as a limited production run so is no longer available however it is possible that it will be re-released in the future and if you are interested in signing up to be notified about that you can do so here.