Tag Archives: L’Epée

L’Epée’s WWII grenade-inspired table clock substantiates perpetuity of time and unpredictability of life

Posted on by

Life is so unpredictably unexpected! While you don’t need a ticking timebomb under your seat to remind you of that; luxury watchmaker L’Epée thinks a pinned grenade should sit on your desk to substantiate the perpetuity of time and unpredictability of life.

To that accord, L’Epée 1839 has toured back in time to realize the Grenade clock, which borrows its essence from the historical MKII grenade linked to misdeeds from World War II.

Designer: L’Epée 1839

Generally, the word grenade instills a sense of fear and discomfort but the L’Epée’s Grenade is a comforting testament of horology meeting art at its inventive best.

Placed on the table, this 5-inch-tall clock is nearly the size and dimension of the actual MKII grenade, and a reminder of its historic inclination. A timepiece worth its aesthetics, the L’Epée’s Grenade clock features a vertical movement in the center (visible in its entirety) that runs the two black-colored rotating aluminum disk on top: one displaying the hours and the other denoting elapsed minutes.

A grenade without its safety pin would be worth its faded life in time. L’Epée Grenade clock ensures it is instinctively built on a live grenade core with a pin that pulls out to set the time or to wind its movement for an eight-day time cycle.

If the appearance of a grenade on your desk is not going to be a put-off; the Grenade clock should find its place on your work table as a subjective reminder of the unpredictable life and its passing phases. To match up with your mood and décor, the clock is available in eight color options with each limited to only 99 examples.

The post L’Epée’s WWII grenade-inspired table clock substantiates perpetuity of time and unpredictability of life first appeared on Yanko Design.

The alien-inspired Orb clock by MB&F blossoms open and stands on its four petal-shaped feet

Posted on by

If you think about it, the art of telling the time has always had an element of performance to it. Whether it’s the sundial, which displayed the time through dancing shadows, or the cuckoo clock, which used mechanical chirping birds to indicate the time, the best clocks always have their signature flair… The MB&F x L’Epée 1839 Orb has its signature flair too – although, on a scale of 1-10 for visual drama, the Orb ranks a solid 20.

The Orb, created as a creative collaboration between MB&F and L’Epée, can be placed in closed or open orientations to display the time and the complex physical movement that powers the clock. The clock comes with an orb-shaped design comprising a circular face on the front and four petals (or elytra, given the Orb pulls inspiration from beetles) that give it its spherical eyeball-esque shape. When closed, the orb looks like, well, an orb that sits on a dock (to prevent it from rolling over). You can manually open out the Orb’s elytra, making it look like a beetle in flight, and even have it stand vertically, with the clock facing upwards. In this open orientation, the Orb also showcases its mesmerizing 1839 movement, designed and manufactured in-house by L’Epée.

Designed to be more like a sculptural jewel that tells time, the Orb’s uniquely interactive aesthetic allows you to really put it up on display as a centerpiece. The clock comes with a choice between a white and a black exterior and can be placed in a variety of orientations – as a circular orb, as a blossomed clock, or vertically, with the elytra serving as the clock’s legs. The clock’s state-of-the-art 1839 movement comes with a striking hour, which when enabled, allows it to chime every hour like a grandfather clock. The hour mechanism doesn’t just chime the passage of the hour, but rings multiple times to indicate the actual hour, like a church clock. This function can be repeated on demand or turned on and off. The movement also comes with an 8-day power reserve, and needs to be manually wound each week – which sounds like a bit of a drag if you ask me, but if you’re going to pay upward of $33,100 for an Orb of your own (yes, that’s how much it costs), you can surely afford to hire a butler who will wind the clock every week!

Designers: MB&F & L’Epée

It’s Deep Space Nine O’ Clock

Posted on by

If this clock looks familiar it’s because it’s a sculpture of Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine. It is called the “Starfleet Machine” and it is breathtaking. It was created by Swiss watch designer L’Epée, with microengineering from the lab MB&F.
ds9 620x374magnify


It has a lot of the same mechanisms as a wristwatch, just larger in scale. Its custom-made movement has a 40-day power reserve and a series of five mainspring barrels. The clock shows hours and minutes, double retrograde seconds and has a power reserve indicator. I wonder if it has any unique Quarks. Or Roms even.

ds9a 620x374magnify


This thing looks super amazing. Shut up and take my gold-pressed latinum!

ds9b 620x374magnify


ds9c 620x374magnify

[via cool hunting via io9]