Here’s another interesting clock brought to us by Japanese online retailer Rakuten. This space-inspired table clock mimics planets in orbit to tell time.
If you can make out the cryptic diagrams above, little metal planets orbit a larger central planet at the middle of the “universe.” One planet signifies hours, another minutes, and the last tiny planet is the second hand. You can really only tell what time it is by viewing the clock from above, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not so bad. When viewed from the side, it still looks cool.
The clock is made out of aluminum and has an acrylic resin case to protect its mechanism. It’s just ¥3,990, which works out to be about $35 bucks, if you can manage to get one shipped overseas.
[UPDATE 4/24/2007: It looks like ThinkGeek has managed to import a handful of these from Japan, retailing for $49.99 each]
