Design Moment: Atom wall clock, c. 1949

It is hard to imagine now a desirable home product being inspired by the “Atomic Age” but this Atom wall clock from 1949 is such a thing.

Designed by prolific and influential American designer, writer and critic George Nelson, it borrows from scientific imagery popularly used to explain the concept of the atom. At the time, in the mid-20th century in the US – and until the space age took off some years later – such imagery seemed forward thinking, fresh and modern and touched with a hint of glamour.

Looked at now, this wall clock is almost cartoonish – not a word associated these days with any aspect of nuclear technology. Also known as the “Ball Clock”, it features wooden balls – usually birch – in place of numerals on radiating chrome or steel spokes, with black hour and minute hands and a red second hand .

There is a painted white sheet-metal blank “face”.

While clearly functional – it tells the time – it assumes the owner does not need numerals to read a clock and so would have been as much a decorative accessory as a functional timepiece in the homes of its first owners.

The electric wall clocks were originally widely available in polished wood in their natural colour but the atom wall clock also came in several colours – the most 1950s-ish being the ones where the balls are painted in alternating pastel colours.

The Atomic Age had a significant impact on design at the time.

Now a noted tourist attraction, the Atomium in Brussels was built in 1958 for the Brussels Expo.

This is one of several clocks designed by Nelson for the Michigan-based Howard Miller Clock Company, a family-owned company that was founded in 1926 and understood clearly the value of working with a designer and keeping up with the times.