Time Machine: The Clock With Balls

Why settle for hands, when you can keep time with a more complicated movement?

KlearGear may want to rethink the name of Time Machine, but the unconventional time-keeping piece will surely elicit attention from first-time viewers. Instead of using hands to keep track of seconds, minutes, and hours, Time Machine uses balls.

Chrome-plated balls, that is. As the mechanism counts down the seconds, the balls are pulled up from a repository, and directed towards a stacked series of chutes. The first two represent the two digits of the current minute, while the lowest chute reflects the hour.

On the side of all chutes are numbers, with the balls stacking up to point to the correct values. The balls make their way from the top to the bottom, eventually reaching the repository at the clock's base to get pulled back up again.

No info on how well this clock contends with chaos. Namely, what will happen if curious observers start taking away balls to mess up the Time Machine's synchronized operation? Time Machine is available from KlearGear.com for around $29.50.