Dick Henry, Johns Hopkins University proposed the Calender and Time Plan
Sometimes all it takes is a frustrated professor named Dick Henry, annoyed with the task of recreating the schedule every year, to create a more efficient calendar system in which every date falls on the same day of the week every year:
The current calendar, which runs for 365 days, was instituted by Pope Gregory in 1582 to bring the length of the year in line with the seasons. But because the Earth actually orbits the Sun every 365.24 days, a 366-day “leap year” must be added every four years to account for the extra fraction of a day. In this Gregorian system, a given date (such as New Year’s Day) falls on different days of the week in different years because 365 is not evenly divisible by seven. (more…)
Rather than focus on just telling time, Japanese design gurus, Nendo’s time products focus on the passage of time - First up is their Key Calender, which is basically a calender with key holes that indicate months, weeks and days. By inserting each key, the design expresses the feeling of opening a new door everyday.
Name: CIBONE Time Material: Ceramic
CIBONE, on the other hand, is a dishware collection with colors at the bottom back of the cups and plates. The colors vaguely appear through the reflection on the table.
Each dishware has a different color and it changes during the course of the meal, from orange to red, purple to blue like the colors of the sky in the evening. The designers call it “the compass of the urban adventure person” - for people who tend to lose the feeling of time and can thus link the progress of time with the change in color.
In their bid to out-hip the iPod, Bang & Olufsen’s new BeoSound Mp3 Player comes with various covers including a wrist band that turns it into a fancy little wristlet. Not sure how much the band is, but we like.
If you haven’t seen Baume et Mercier’s Vice Versa yet, then scroll down a few posts. But just in case your scroll wheel is punctured and you’re too lazy to scroll down, Vice Versa was Baume et Mercier’s new women’s watch that “didn’t impose time” (actual quote from product copy -ed) on the wearer - the watch bit was safely hidden away under the wearer’s wrist with a part of bracelet covering it. (see post)
After all, who would want to suffer from the constact pressure of wearing a regular watch, with its hands constantly reminding you of time quickly passing by.
Would you?
But wait a minute, wouldn’t wearing the time piece under the wrist be just as stressful? It’s almost like having monsters under your bed, I tell you.
Enter fashion superstar, Helmut Lang, with their new men’s bracelet from their 2004/2005 collection, which goes one step further - it dumps the watch altogether! (Gasp!) How revolutionary! Go out and get one now!*
*Just in case anyone took me seriously (I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some out there that would), I was just kidding around.
That’s it for this year, wish you a happy new year and if there is a site outage in a day or two, it’s just us moving hosts so we can better serve you.
Having previously worked in the U.S. watch industry, I know how planning an advertisement campaign is as much about reassuring and marketing to your retailers as to your customers, so when Kobold ditched their old ad campaign for a celebrity endorsement, they decided to have some fun with it - In the version (pictured above) they sent out as a press release, they had tough guy James Gandolfini sitting, with the description “James Gandolfini, Accounts Receivables, Kobold Watches” and a quote from the Founder underneath:
“People in the watch industry always complain about cash-flow problems. I say: “What cash flow problems?” Our customers prefer to pay in advance!”
Lets hope their retailers look past the veiled threat.
Neat Perpetual calendar I found at the TDC Design Gallery in Hong Kong (A store that showcases some of the prominent Hong Kong designers). Just lift the top block and place it on the corresponding date.
If you aren’t much of a watch person and if we were queer (Queer eye for the straight guy reference for those not in the know), we’d make you leave your trusty casio calculator at home and get you a pair of these cufflinks fitted with a clock and compass instead, so you could still look classly in your dinner jacket without sporting a classy Patek or Affluence watch.
The cufflinks will set you back for around 50 dollars and are available in non reflective gold, blue rim and brushed chrome. You can also get one with a thermometer.
ps. We’ll start covering watches again. Soon. We Promise.
Next time your need to impress at work is drowned by an army of co-workers sporting power ties, you could get yourself the new Twin double d.d.m tie by Ermenegildo Zegna. The Twin conceals a handmade double tie and lets you switch ties whenever you feel like refreshing your look.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we prefer the switch tie over a shiny wristwatch, but it certainly compliments.
Name:Amun Designer: Peter Riering-Czekalla, Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts & Design, Contact : Germany +49.172.2873.335, (email)
Continuing on the Ambient Device bandwagon is Amun, a winner in the Student category at this year’s IDEA awards. The device is meant to increase awareness of energy consumption by giving the user a realtime view of the amount of energy consumed in the house via a digital display and a pulsing glow.
While we aren’t sure how the glow plays a role in this device, we still personally feel that this is a better application than the ones currently churned out by Ambient Devices, Inc. So if this isn’t version isn’t ambient, we wouldn’t surprised if it ever did become one in a future incarnation.
