What looks like a steampunk-ish lightsaber hilt that has a glass with numbers for a blade is actually a clock. That’s right. It is a clock. The brainchild of this, futuristic avant-garde time-keeping device is from independent Swiss watchmaker URWERK and it is called Space-Time Blade.
Created exclusively for Only Watch 2023, the Space-Time Blade has no satellite hours or hours and minute hand. Neither is there a case, a dial proper, or a crown. Yes, it does tell time and doing so like it was pulled from a scene of Blade Runner (the Harrison Ford one, that is).
In fact, it is more than a clock; the Space-Time Blade’s illuminated digits not only captured the hours, minutes, and seconds but also kilometers, depicting the smooth Earthly journey. This unique time and Earth relation is perfectly encapsulated in glass by talented craftsman Dalibor Farny.
Deep within this remarkable clock, there’s a glowing tribute to Nixie tubes, those nostalgic relics from the ’50s that made numbers stylish with glow power. This 1.62-meter (5 feet 3.78 inches) tall, 40-kilogram (88 lbs) behemoth is designed to fulfill URWERK’s dreams of timekeeping grandeur.
It rocks a URWERK bronze crown, a proud, oversized structure with its own glass dome, like a clock with a personal snow globe. Beneath that glassy crown, eight Nixie bulbs strike a pose, hand-shaped with blowtorches, making them the divas of the clock world.
They’re filled with neon gas, wired up like rock stars, and even get custom-made cathodes from 0 to 9. Putting this all together is like crafting the most delicate of house-of-cards, with pliers instead of trembling hands. When the switch flips, it’s showtime! An orange glow engulfs each cathode, faster than you can blink – up to 100,000 times per second, setting a new record for clock choreography.
These delicate bulbs aren’t just for looks; they tell time (hours, minutes, seconds), and the Earth’s twirl in kilometers, proving that they’re not just pretty faces.
To top it off, the remote control for this clockwork spectacle is practically a lightsaber, making you the Jedi master of time. May the promptness be with you! Oh, the Space-Time display can be set to six different positions:
1. Time indication in hours, minutes, seconds
2. Time indication in hours, minutes, seconds, 1/10, and 1/100 of a second
3. Indication of kilometers covered in one day (Earth’s rotation at the Equator)
4. Indication of kilometers traveled in one day (Earth’s revolution around the Sun)
5. Indication of kilometers traveled in one year (Earth’s revolution around the sun)
6. Maintenance process
The URWERK Space-Time Blade is the first in an upcoming series that may be unveiled in 2024. Meanwhile, this first is destined to be auctioned to benefit the Only Watch association, which has been tirelessly fighting against Duchenne muscular dystrophy for the past decade.
Images: URWERK.
