Column Clock Utilizes a Standard Movement in a New Way

Inventions mature over time and eventually standardization emerges. Your coffee thermos is probably a lot like your coworker’s coffee thermos — not because of government regulation or because that is the only way to design a thermos, but because it is a sensible convention. Why fix what isn’t broken? In a similar way, most analog clocks look alike. We all know how to read them and the movements can be manufactured in massive quantities. But ReallySrry found an interesting new way to take advantage of that standard movement and their Column Clock is the result.

This desk clock looks a bit like some styles of egg timer, because it is a vertical cylinder that spins. But there are actually two spinning cylinders: one for minutes and one for hours. And, of course, it operates indefinitely like every good clock should, instead of buzzing after a few minutes like an egg timer does.

Aside from the unique style, this project is interesting because it utilizes a standard clock movement. This is the kind that is manufactured by thousands, sold in craft stores, and used by people that make their own clocks. Just fabricate your own clock face and stick this movement in to turn the hands. But in this case, it is rotating cylinders instead. That let ReallySrry put the numbers on the outer surfaces of the cylinders, so the clock is readable from the side instead of what we would normally consider the “front.”

ReallySrry designed those cylinders and the base in Autodesk Fusion 360, with cutouts for the numbers. A glass cover protects the cylinders and this is another example of ReallySrry being clever, because that glass cover is actually a $3 shot glass from Target. As with the clock movement, this repurposing of a common everyday product was ingenious.

The Column Clock won’t appeal to everyone, as it is pretty small and hard to read from a distance. But its unique style and clever design is delightful, regardless.