Exclusive table clock "Tripod" red

The tripod consists of a minimalist dial suspended between three graceful insect-like legs. It follows the mighty T-Rex in what will become a trilogy of half-animal and half-robot creations. Robo-entities may well be time capsules of the future, the petrified "life" of the prehistoric era. With TriPod, Berlin-based designer Martens, L'Épée CEO Arnaud Nicolas and MB&F CEO Maximilian Busser lead us into the hour-long postmodern prehistoric era.

Robo-entities may well be time capsules of the future, the petrified "life" of the prehistoric era. With TriPod, Berlin-based designer Maximilian Martens, L'Épée CEO Arnaud Nicolas and Maximilian Busser lead us into the hour-long postmodern prehistoric era.

TriPod represents how time originates in Jurassic Park. "This insect is a transitional stage between the dinosaur and what's coming next, because they're all still here," says Martens.

While the main source of inspiration for TriPod is a mosquito trapped in amber, which provides DNA for the genetic creation of new dinosaurs, for the look of the watch, Martens decided to imitate the water strider (Gerridae), an insect capable of walking on the surface of water using surface tension. and its long, thin, hydrophobic legs to distribute its weight over a large surface area.

"It's like a levitating insect walking on water," explains Martens, "and it inspired me to create something very elegant. This is a direction I would like to move in, even if it has caused some disagreements with engineers on issues such as stability." The TriPod's three long legs seem too fragile to be true, but the balance is so precisely calculated that the whole creation looks as elegant as the insect it is modeled after.

An integral element of the TriPod sculpture clock is the time display, which is performed by looking down at the dial, consisting of two concentric rotating discs. The external disk shows the hours, and the internal disk shows the minutes in increments of 15. Reading time requires interaction between a Person and a Machine: the observer reads time thanks to three optical spheres, each of which increases the digits of the clock and makes them legible.

In order for all three "insect eyes" to show time at any angle, the dial has three sets of digits from 1 to 12, which means that the dial makes a complete revolution in 36 hours instead of the usual 12 hours. The time can be seen through one of the magnifying lenses at any moment, as well as the dial on top (although much smaller).

L'Epée engineers calculated the best distance between the dial and the spheres, as well as the size of the spheres, which was large enough to see the time, but not so large as to change the design. In other words, the proportions, the right magnification, and the right distances were tantamount to the success of the TriPod. And to get this, the shape of the spheres had to be made very precisely — within 10 microns — since even the slightest shift could change the magnification, making it blurry.

The company L'Epée 1839, specializing in the production of luxury watches, understands the intricacies of watchmaking, offers a diverse collection of modern table clocks. Since watchmaking is not the simplest art, L'Epée had to overcome many obstacles on the way to creating the best, successfully combining simple design with technically complex execution. 

The watch is available in a limited edition of 50 pieces of each color.