Around Five's "The Sculpture of Time": A Modern Horological Art Piece

Patrick_y, a WatchProSite moderator, introduces "The Sculpture of Time" by Around Five, a unique clock that transcends traditional horology to become a piece of art. His initial impressions highlight its innovative design and Swiss craftsmanship, prompting readers to consider how such a distinctive object integrates into diverse living spaces. This review offers a fresh perspective on time-telling devices, moving beyond wristwatches to explore sculptural horological creations.

Moderator Patrick_y find has been bitten by the bug again, this time it's a clock that's in the shape of a wave.  Read on to learn more about "The Sculpture of Time" a new clock designed by Around Five. 

It's a new clock in the shape of a wave!  Beautifully hand assembled in Switzerland, this clock was conceived by two individuals; engineer Antoine Lorotte and designer Philippe Vallat, the respective founders of FiveCo – Innovative Engineering and Pilot Design (chances are, you've seen the work they've done at conventions and airports in the pre-Covid times).  The two exceptionally gifted and successful individuals decided to collaborate on a passion project, they created a new clock that they've simply named "The Sculpture."  Check out the video that shows how the clock was designed, manufactured, and assembled.  Furthermore, this clock was designed, manufactured, and assembled all in Switzerland!  A true SWISS MADE product!  Check out the video below! 

From initial concept to final design, the Sculpture of Time was inspired by the sun's daily routine.

As you can see, the base of the clock is made from a singular cold extruded aluminum block with custom internal carriers, an extremely expensive and rigid manufacturing method (the Rolls-Royce Phantom body is made from a similar process).  A custom computer board was designed to process the time, receive inputs from the two buttons, and to move the “Sail” that indicates time on the wave.  The base is given a beautiful black treatment. 

The upper portion of the clock, the wave, is a singular piece of metal and beautifully cut and cleanly engraved.  It’s got a classic and modern elegance to it that will stand the test of time.  At the 17:00 position you’ll see the “Around Five” logo is cleverly integrated near the center of the clock, the only branding you’ll see on the entire clock. 

The Sculpture of Time is a “single-handed” clock that looks like a wave.  The wave is static, but the Sail moves across a track.  The wave has time as its X axis, and the position of the sun is denoted by the Y axis.  The sun starts to rise from the median at 6AM, hits its peak at 12PM, goes negative at 6PM, reaches its lowest point at 12AM, and comes back to the median at 5:59:59AM where the “single-hand” slides itself automatically the full length of the track from 5:59AM to 6:00AM every morning at 6:00AM, this sliding motion is completed in about ten seconds.  Take a look at the video that explains how the clock displays time. 

The User-Interface (UI for our techies) is extremely easy to use.  Setting this clock doesn’t require any reading of any manual.  The manual of the clock is actually just printed on the sleeve of the box.  There are two buttons; a + and a – button.  Long presses change the hand in 60-minute increments, short presses change the hand in 1-minute increments.  Pretty simple to figure out!  It’s a great User-Interface, Apple couldn’t have done a better job themselves! 

When placed on a piano, the resonance of the piano allows the Sculpture of Time to make an audible tick every minute. Time shown; approximately 20:20. 

The User-Experience (UX for our techies) is excellent as well.  The sculpture displays time beautifully and accurately.  The mechanism runs on 5 AA batteries and should have autonomy of over one year.  When I first set up the sculptural clock, I had put the clock on the top of a piano and every minute you could hear a noticeable “tock” sound as the motor advanced the “single-hand” a fraction of a millimeter.  I chatted with the team at Around Five about this sound and they suggested I move the sculpture to a less resonant surface, since the piano was extremely resonant and the spruce amplified the “tock” sound.  I’ve since moved the clock to a bookshelf with lots of books and the weight of the books dampen the sound.  You could have this sculpture on a heavy bookshelf in your bedroom, it won’t disturb you.  What a wonderful way to wake up each day! 

The Sculpture of Time belongs in any setting, it’s even at one with the outdoors. Time shown; approximately 12:30.

I’m very excited about this clock and I’m I hope that some of our WatchProSite members are able to acquire some of these clocks themselves.  The clock is made in a very small quantity of only 100 pieces in each iteration.  They come individually serialized and they also come with a certificate of authenticity with the signature of the engineer and designer on the certificate.  Here is the official movie from Around Five featuring the Sculpture of Time.  It gives you a quick introduction to the two founders behind the brand whose names are on the certificate. 

In conclusion, you already have a nice watch: give yourself some time.  This Sculpture of Time reminds me to slow down, it reminds me that precision isn’t everything.  On most of our clocks they’re so precise down to the second that this additional precision creates stress.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a world where an approximate time was good enough?  For thousands of years, humankind survived by using approximate time – when we didn’t have clocks, we used the sun and we would meet our friends at certain positions of the sun.  The Sculpture of Time does exactly that, it removes the relentless scrolling of digital seconds and replaces it with a poetic and architectural sculpture conveying time.  I’ll see you for an early dinner, sometime Around Five. 

Thank you for reading this review of this amazing new timepiece.  As always, I read each of your comments.  Please let me know your thoughts!