The best 5 Made in Italy Design Wall Clocks you have ever seen

Wall clocks have always been fascinating stuff.

Since ancient times men tried to measure time and developed instruments capable of understanding and describing the fabulous journey of the sun across the sky.

They were not just simple items: they were timekeepers, tools with the ambitious power to demystify the mysteries of time.

The first modern clock has probably been the pendulum, developed in the XVII century, an iconic clock whose presence inhabited our homes for centuries. Then wall clocks came as we know them today: items with clock hands able to split the river of time into hours, minutes, seconds.

Items whose ticking keeps company to our daily routine and makes our living a little bit warmer.

 

But from the XX century, wall clocks became, again, something more. They became beautiful pieces of design in our homes, inspiring generations of designers to research new esthetics and new materials in order to create special timekeepers. 

 

Italy, the design’s homeland, has gifted us with many different, precious, design clocks.

 

Here the list of our 5 favourite ones.

 

 

Our 5 favourite Made in Italy Design Clocks

 

 

1) Boselli Wall Clock (Gio Ponti, 1936)

Gio Ponti was a designer, an architect, a professor, and his work largely contributed to the rebirth of Made in Italy design after the World War.

The clocks he made for Boselli reflect his classical style, with their precise lines and their simple shapes. The design is bold, imbued of elegance, due to a perfect machine watching over the time flow.

We love Gio Ponti’s Clock because it became an icon: if you think about a clock, that is the clock you will have in mind. And this makes it one of the best design clocks ever.

 

2) Optic (Joe Colombo, 1970)

The second design clock we love is Joe Colombo’s Optic. It is the last gift the designer left us, because he died at the age of 41, right afterwards Optic’s realization. 

His style is innovative and playful, with its red/white plastic shelter whose shape allows you to hang it up on the wall, or to use it as a table clock. Its hands are designed in order to make it easy to read the time.

Optic is both the triumph of functionality and a game of tricks for your eyes.

 

3) Cucù Duomo (Luca Trazzi, 2014)

 

Sometimes you can’t understand a concept if you are not aware of its background.

This is the case for Cucù Duomo, an awesome clock designed by Luca Trazzi, for the Milano Design Week 2014. 

Its design is inspired by the Duomo, the iconic cathedral which had become the symbol of Milan, and one of the most iconic architectures in Italy. Not only for its shape: the materials used too (wood, iron, painted glass), indeed, are the same used to build the Duomo.

Profits made by selling Cucù Clocks have been used to restore the Cathedral.

Definitely an act of love for Italy.

4) Raggiante (Michele De Lucchi, 2017)

  

Raggiante is Michele de Lucchi's wall clock, whose design resembles a radiant sun. Because sun is what beats the time, hour after hour, from the beginning to the end of time, day and night.

Even when the sun is sleeping, hiding behind the Earth.

Raggiante (Radiant) is a joyful piece of art made of bamboo, a natural material we deeply love.

A finely designed sun whose rays will light up your home.

 

5) EORA Clock (Omar Delfo Mascia, 2018)

 

The last Made in Italy design clock we mention is our EORA. 

We love it because its project enshrines the concepts of all the Made in Italy clocks we have loved before.

It keeps the spirit of Gio Ponti's clocks, with its elegance and classical roundness; it is functional and fancy as Optic was in the 70's. It speaks about Italy as Cucù Duomo does, it is joyful and uses natural materials like Raggiante.

 

And finally, it does something else.

As we said before, wall clocks are no longer simple timekeepers: they are a design research in continuous evolution. 

And now EORA moves another step forward: with it, design becomes an affectionate buddy who talks about the challenges of the future.

 

 

What do you think? Which is the best wall clock you know?

 

Leave a comment below! ;)

 

Photos via:

https://www.italianways.com/gio-pontis-timeless-watches/

https://sbandiu.com/2017/08/02/lorologio-optic-di-joe-colombo/

https://www.abitare.it/it/design/2014/03/13/diamantini-domeniconi-cucu-duomo/

https://giornaledelnuovo.com/orologi-da-parete-i-designer-di-alessi-creano-arris-e-raggiante/

https://www.kibelis.com/blogs/blog/the-best-5-made-in-italy-design-wall-clocks-you-have-ever-seen