There might be a lot of speculation around what Jony Ive and Sam Altman are cooking up together. But few would have expected the former Apple designer’s new company to drop a banger before he and the OpenAI CEO release the rumoured AI device in 2027.
Acquire Mag was the first English magazine to notice that Ive’s design firm LoveFrom and Tokyo-based brand Balmuda have released a new device called ‘The Clock.’ The pocket watch-shaped desk clock, as reported by designboom, “features no hands, but a system called the Light Hour.” To put that into context, most watches use hands to depict time. Unlike conventional clocks, Balmuda’s timepiece uses light to indicate the time without the hour, minute, or seconds hands.
Notebook Check notes that “the dial shows numbers from 1 to 12 with no hands”, the corresponding digit lighting up for the hour, and LEDs behind lines on the outer edge denote the minutes.
The Clock features an aluminium body machined from a solid block, finished to a polish that achieves both structural weight and surface quality in a 2.9-inch square form. Despite its palm-sized footprint, it packs a Type-C charging battery that provides up to 24 hours of playtime. The Clock has built-in stereo speakers, but don’t set your expectations too high on that front.
Beyond its visual identity, The Clock is a surprisingly functional bedside companion with three modes embedded within its aluminium body. The first is ‘Alarm Mode,’ which, as the name suggests, wakes you up. The second is ‘Relax Mode,’ which Balmuda describes as a setting where “something fills the space with the sound of quiet rain or piano music, with a sound quality that is unexpected for its small size.” It is worth noting that Relax Mode plays seven original sound recordings, ranging from rain and river sounds to a fireplace and the chirp of crickets. Lastly, there is ‘Focus Mode,’ which runs from one minute to sixty and layers white noise beneath a countdown.
We wanted to do more than just display the time; we wanted to make time itself a pleasant experience. This led to the creation of “Light Hour,” a new way of expressing time using light. Every hour, the chime sounds, and the familiar movement of a pendulum is represented by light. The slow movement of the second hand evokes a warm and comforting sense of time passing
– Gen Terao, Founder of Balmuda
All three modes can be controlled via the Balmuda Connect app over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 5.0, with options for multiple alarms, dial brightness adjustment, and a second time zone for travel. The Clock is set to launch in Japan in mid-April, priced at ¥59,400 (approximately $370), with no confirmed release date for the US or other markets as yet.
