Designed by Kouichi Okamoto with ceramicist Daniel Jo, the Water Clock consists of a small fired clay base topped with a pair of magnetic spheres. A pair of powerful magnets underneath the delicate clay surface move the tiny orbs in a circular path to tell the current time. While the spheres are magnetic, they’re actually buoyant, so if you fill up a glass with H2O, the “hands” of the clock actually float on the surface of the water. Each of the spheres can be placed into any dish, plate or other vessel you happen to have lying around.

And while all the designer’s pictures show the clock working with crystal clear water and delicate china, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t make your own clock using beer, wine, orange juice or Donkey Kong Jungle Juice swimming in a Dixie Riddle Cup. That’s the true beauty of this thing.

The Water Clock is available over at Generate for $299 (USD).