Everything around us is design. Anything around us possesses behind it a thought, sprung from the pen of someone who in his own head constructed such a model. Design, is also what differentiates objects, and in watchmaking this is fundamental; inside we will always find a movement that animates the timepiece, but what really amazes and creates emotions in the customer is the aesthetics.
Today we are going to talk about design, dwelling on George Nelson, one of the greatest architects in contemporary American history who, through a simple but not at all trivial observation, created clocks, this time not wristwatches but wall or table clocks, with a totally new style.
Who is George Nelson?
George Nelson is considered one of the leading figures in postwar American design, known for his innovative and humanistic approach related in particular to the 1930s modernism movement. His principles were based on the belief that design should be functional, but without sacrificing a pleasing aesthetic. Unlike the more austere European modernism, Nelson managed to combine simplicity and minimalism with elements of surprise and play, resulting in iconic objects such as the Ball Clock.
He believed in design as a tool for social progress, capable of improving people’s quality of life, and was a great advocate of using new technologies and materials to innovate. He was a pioneer of the concept of modularity, developing solutions that were flexible and adaptable to user needs.
George Nelson Clocks
The paths of Nelson and the world of watchmaking met in 1947, when the American designer was commissioned to create a collection of watches. As we mentioned, a feature at the heart of the designer’s thinking was functionality; so he set out to study how people read the time, trying to figure out how to make the watch as intuitive and simple as possible.
As a result of these studies, Nelson realized that people did not read the time by relying on the numbered markers on the dial and that since most owned a wristwatch, the wall clock could become a design element. In 1949, after devoting himself to this project, he launched a collection of 14 wall and table clocks on the market, featuring a completely innovative design.
What sets these clocks apart is their easy readability and entirely new aesthetics. Each watch is simple but at the same time complete. The hands and dial come to life, with a touch of elegance in full modernist style, revisiting an object unchanged for centuries. The absence of numbers is not everything; in these watches we find a strong diversity of materials, colors and shapes. Each represents a concept and an idea turned into reality, reflecting the ideals of the time such as the strong desire for change and social revenge following a world war that had just ended.
Until Nelson’s death in 1985, more than a hundred such products sprang from his design studio, including wall clocks, portable table clocks and integrated clocks.
Vitra Design Museum’s purchase of George Nelson’s archive.
Following Nelson’s death, his archive, containing 7400 manuscripts, plans, drawings, photographs, and slides, ranging from 1924 to 1984, was acquired by the Vitra Design Museum. Based on these documents, Nelson Clocks were made and re-distributed, bringing the American designer’s ideas and concepts back to life. Even today, Vitra continues to reintroduce and redesign these clocks, continually expanding the collection, offering them on the market in different materials and shapes powered by a high-quality quartz movement.
Conclusions
With his clocks, George Nelson not only revolutionized the concept of the wall clock, but turned a simple tool into an icon of style and modernity by going beyond the simple concept of functionality, laying the foundation for modern design, made of beauty and utility. To this day, these pieces continue to inspire generations of designers, proving that an everyday object can become a true work of art. Did you guys know this story?
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