Motion Lab

Monolith / Edition of 100

One block. One hand. One hundred years.

A desk clock cut from a single billet of grade-5 titanium. Applied batons, no numerals, a recessed dial under a polished bezel, and a movement rated to outlive the person who buys it.

The Monolith desk clock: a brushed titanium block with a recessed black dial, applied batons, a minute track and three hands, lit from above left.

No seam to fail at.

An object machined from one piece of titanium has nothing to loosen and no part that can be replaced — which is either the whole argument for it or the whole argument against, depending on whether you expect to own it for a hundred years.

Scroll-driven WebGL

Turn it over

A pinned 250svh section in which scroll drives camera azimuth, elevation and one light angle, so the highlight travels across the brushed face. Renders on demand, never in a loop.

  1. 01

    The face is brushed in one direction only, so the highlight moves as you do. It is the whole reason this object is worth rendering rather than photographing.

  2. 02

    Every edge carries a 0.4 mm chamfer, cut in the same setup as the face. Nothing is deburred by hand, because hands are inconsistent.

  3. 03

    The base is hollowed to 4 mm and filled with brass. It weighs 1.9 kg and does not move when you knock the desk.

Detail

Three details worth the machine time

  • Macro view of the chamfered edge where the top face meets the side.

    The chamfer

    Cut, not broken. A 0.4 mm chamfer at every edge, in the same setup as the face so it cannot be misaligned.

  • The dial face, showing the applied batons, the minute track and the accent seconds hand.

    The dial

    No numerals. Twelve applied batons, a double-width one at twelve, and a minute track for the times you need it exactly. The seconds hand is the only colour on the object.

  • The underside of the clock, showing the brass fill and the machined recess.

    The base

    Hollowed and brass-filled. The mass is deliberate: it is the difference between an object and a paperweight that tells the time.

Specification

Specification

Material
Grade-5 titanium, single billet
Finish
Unidirectional brush, bead-blasted sides
Dimensions
88 × 88 × 42 mm
Mass
1.9 kg, brass-filled base
Movement
Swiss quartz, 10-year cell, hand-set only
Accuracy
±10 seconds per month
Edition
100, numbered on the base

Construction

What is inside

Six parts, five of which are metal. There is nothing to service and nothing that can be serviced, which is either the point or the problem depending on your view.

  1. 01

    Case

    Single billet, grade-5 titanium

  2. 02

    Dial

    Integral to the case, engraved

  3. 03

    Hand

    Anodised aluminium, 0.6 mm

  4. 04

    Movement

    Swiss quartz, press-fit carrier

  5. 05

    Ballast

    Cast brass, epoxy-bonded

  6. 06

    Foot

    Machined PTFE, four off

Edition of 100

Numbered on the base. When they are gone there will not be more, because the fixture gets scrapped.

£1,450

Concept — no edition exists.

Join the listConcept work — fictional brand, built to demonstrate technique. Nothing is for sale.