It’s a funny old thing, time. It can fly when you’re having fun; and drag when you’re not. We might think it’s universal, but it can mean different things to different people. For some, it’s an entirely rigid concept; for others, a loose guideline by which to plan your day. And how you perceive it can be a mark of either your culture or your character. “I’ll meet you at 6pm” probably means just that in northern Europe. Whereas in this part of the world, it might actually mean: “I’ll meet you at some point, probably around 6pm, but maybe closer to 7pm, inshallah.”
Which makes it all the more amazing that the German design company Biegert & Funk has created a product that translates the idea of time in a way that’s resonating with cultures across the world. The award-winning Qlocktwo is an object that spells out the time in words, rather than numbers, and it can do so in 19 different languages.
“It’s a very calm way to tell the time,” says Marco Biegert, the co-founder of Biegert & Funk, when I meet him in Dubai’s En Vogue showroom, Qlocktwo’s exclusive stockist in the UAE. “With a normal clock or watch, it feels like the second hand is hunting you through the day. I don’t like that. This is very calm. It’s like a piece of artwork on the wall that shows you the time in a very friendly way.”
The deceptively simple clock face consists of a matrix of 110 letters arranged in a square. Behind these letters are 110 pure-white LEDs, which are illuminated to spell out the time, changing at five-minute intervals. Four dots of light in the corners of the clock face represent the minutes between each interval.
Behind the minimalist clock face are some pretty high-grade mechanics, developed in conjunction with German car manufacturers. There’s an oscillator (“something like quartz, but much more precise; it’s really high-precision clockwork,” Biegert says), which is responsible for keeping the time; the message is then transmitted to a chip responsible for lighting up the relevant letters.
“Everything is made in Germany,” Biegert notes. “The quality is completely under our control. This is very important.” Et voila: a beautifully simple piece of typographic art that also serves as a timepiece.
It started with a very simple question, Biegert explains. “Why isn’t there a clock that tells the time in the way that people actually talk to each other? If you look at a watch with hands, you always have to translate it. You see the hands, and then your brain has to work out what it means. But you always have to turn it back into words, because the brain works with words. This was the basic question.”
It took some years before that question was answered in the form of the Qlocktwo. “It was quite difficult to create. Because when you start something, you never know if it will be successful – if you will reach the status of a product that can be manufactured. You build all these prototypes, and try all these different ways of bringing something to life. But the message, I think, is if you have an idea, you should try to make it a reality. I think a lot of people have ideas, but the next day they get up, go to work, and nothing changes. You have to start somewhere. Sometimes it will take years, but you have to try.”
This was initially a side project for Biegert and his business partner, Andreas Funk, who have been friends for 30 years. They had founded a design studio together, focusing on graphic and web design, but were always looking to create something of their own. Qlocktwo was unveiled in Germany in 2009 and internationally in 2010, and the response globally has been overwhelmingly positive. The product has received more than 20 international design awards, including the much-coveted Red Dot Design Award, an iF Product Design Award, a Good Design Award and an Interior Innovation Award. While the clock was initially launched in German, with English following shortly afterwards, it’s now available in numerous languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian, with plenty more on the way.
“We always try to express the time not in a formal way, but how people do it every day. But this is also a very emotional thing. If there’s a mistake, and we use an expression that is not commonly used, then we’ll get letters from people telling us so. For example, in Germany, you say five to half-past, instead of 25 past. So it gets tricky. This is a really big challenge. To do it exactly as people express it.”
The clock is currently available in four formats: the original 45 centimetre by 45cm Classic version, which can be hung on the wall or turned into a standing clock with the help of magnetic brackets. This is available in an acrylic finish and comes in seven different colours. Additionally, there’s the Creator’s Edition, which is the same size, but finished in rusted steel, stunning gold leaf, pure platinum or raw iron. Then there’s the Large 90cm by 90cm edition for added impact, and at the other end of the scale, a smaller Touch version, measuring 13.5cm by 13.5cm, which is perfect for the bedside table, and comes with an alarm and snooze function, as well as a night mode where the numbers only become illuminated when you touch the clock. Prices at En Vogue start at Dh2,000 for the Touch version.
Best of all, the clock’s faces can be easily changed and purchased separately, so you can swap the finish, colour and even language with relative ease. Finally, for those looking for unusual arm candy, there’s a wristwatch, the Qlocktwo W, with a 35 millimetre by 35mm case made from stainless steel, and finished in brushed, polished, black or gold-plated versions.
Next on the agenda are new languages and new finishes, but the company has also teamed up with En Vogue and the International Emerging Artist Award, Dubai’s contemporary art award, to shake things up a bit. For the fourth edition of the award, artists from the region and beyond are being invited to reimagine the Qlocktwo face, and create an artist’s edition of the product. One Emirati and one international artist will be offered a contract with Qlocktwo for the production of their winning entries, which will be sold at En Vogue. The winners will also be given the opportunity to visit the Biegert & Funk headquarters in Germany.
“The [International] Emerging Artist Award reflects our story,” says Biegert. “We had an idea and we made it real. That’s what the award does. The artists will be inspired by our product and present their ideas, and we will bring it to life together. This is a way to help other artists and inspire other people to do creative things.”
sdenman@thenational.ae