Living Design – Clock Delay by Bloomming
Danish Design Magazine Highlights an Unconventional Way of Telling Time
Published in Living Design, Winter 2008/2009
Danish interior and design magazine Living Design featured Clock Delay, the experimental clock designed by Bas van Leeuwen for Dutch design studio Bloomming, in a special editorial exploring innovative contemporary clock designs.
Presented within a curated selection of unusual timepieces, Clock Delay stood out for its exposed mechanics and sculptural interpretation of time.
Clock Delay
Rather than hiding the mechanism behind a clock face, Clock Delay makes the movement itself the centrepiece.
The design consists of three rotating gears representing:
- Hours
- Minutes
- Seconds
As the gears rotate, the current time can be read where the three wheels intersect. Traditional clock hands become unnecessary, allowing the mechanics to become both the function and the visual expression of the object.
Constructed from stainless steel and aluminium, Clock Delay occupies the space between product design, engineering and kinetic sculpture.
Featured in “Clockwise”
The magazine’s editorial, titled “Clockwise”, explored the many ways contemporary designers reinterpret our perception of time.
Clock Delay was selected as one of the most distinctive examples because of its visible mechanical construction and unconventional reading method. While many modern clocks focus on simplification, Clock Delay reveals complexity and celebrates the beauty of movement.
The publication described the clock as consisting of three gears for hours, minutes and seconds that visually indicate time through their interaction.
Design Philosophy
Clock Delay was developed from the idea that modern products often conceal how they work.
By exposing the mechanism, the design encourages curiosity and appreciation for engineering. The clock transforms the normally invisible process of measuring time into something that can be observed and enjoyed.
Reading the time requires a moment of attention, making users more aware of the passage of time itself.
This approach reflects Bloomming’s broader design philosophy: creating objects that invite interaction, provoke thought and reveal their function rather than hiding it.
A Mechanical Sculpture
Beyond its practical purpose, Clock Delay functions as a moving sculpture. The continuously rotating gears create an ever-changing composition of lines, numbers and shadows.
The result is an object that becomes a focal point within an interior while simultaneously performing its role as a clock.
Product Information
Product: Clock Delay
Designer: Bas van Leeuwen
Studio: Bloomming
Materials: Stainless steel and aluminium
Dimensions: Approximately 35 × 35 × 48 cm
Category: Clock / Kinetic Sculpture
International Recognition
The feature in Living Design added to a growing list of international publications that recognised Clock Delay for its originality. The design appeared in magazines throughout Europe, North America and Asia, helping establish Bloomming as a studio known for combining conceptual thinking with strong visual design.
Clock Delay remains one of the most distinctive early projects created by the studio.
Publication Details
Publication: Living Design
Country: Denmark
Issue: Winter 2008/2009
Section: Clockwise
Featured Product: Clock Delay
Designer: Bas van Leeuwen
Studio: Bloomming
Original publication summary
“Delay by Dutch design studio Bloomming is a clock that does away with convention. Consisting of three gears for hours, minutes and seconds, it displays time through the movement and interaction of its rotating wheels.”
