“Those with an affinity for the metaphorical will see a memento mori of sorts in T-REX, and not just in its invocation of a long-extinct animal. T-REX is a clock with legs. . . saying time can run away from us all.” – Maximilian Büsser, founder of the high-end watch brand, MB&F.
Damn, Max. What an eloquent way to package an existential bummer. Take one look at the opulent, bionic T-REX Bronze table clock, and you cannot help but agree with the man. Maybe it’s the wild aesthetics or the old-school manual-winding key. Maybe it’s the fact that it costs more than my first two years of undergrad. Maybe it’s that the T-REX’s iris is the same hue as my birthstone. Maybe it’s a little of each. At any rate, the contrivance is absurd, spectacular, beautiful. . . and I want one.
Aesthetic & Kinetic
From tip to all eight anatomically-correct toes, T-REX Bronze is a handsome, albeit odd-looking timepiece. Legs and all, the table clock stands nearly 1 foot (265 mm) tall and clocks in at 4.5 pounds (2 kg). A serious specimen.
Most striking? An emerald green, handblown Murano glass dial dominates the clock’s central union. Though vibrant, the clockface is minimalistic, hosting two simple hands and a small winding arbor for time-setting.
Bronze alloy is a metal that flirts with the idea of being gold, and T-REX’s collaborative design crew nailed the emulation. The golden-matte look results from a unique treatment of polishing, satin finishing, and sandblasting. Deep brown patina flocks the feet and legs, and chemical oxidation seals the deal. Light-play across the multitextured legs teases the eye – as if T-REX were winding up to pounce.
Sixty-three bronze alloy components comprise T-REX’s skeleton, and particular focus went into modeling its legs: MB&F utilized 3D scans of fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex bones. The intended effect? To “create verisimilitude in the final design.” Ah, realism. Sweet.
The spherical frame houses 138 components and 17 jewels that make up its single-engine (or ‘movement’). It’s what MB&F refers to as “the literal time capsule.” Get it?
L’Épée engineered and manufactured the clock’s timekeeping functions. The Swiss maker endowed T-REX’s movement with a 2.5-Hz balance beating and a winding arbor, giving the table clock 8 days’ maximum-reserve power. That the mechanized brain rests behind a big iris-like display seems anatomically apropos, doesn’t it?
Collaboration & Refabrication
The T-REX Bronze clock is the lovechild of three high-end horological creatives: MB&F, L’Épée 1839, and Massena LAB.
Several years ago, Swiss watchmakers MB&F and L’Épée embarked on their first collaborative endeavor to create a timepiece/machination called ‘T-REX and Tom.’ Best known for producing ambitious, 3D kinetic watches, MB&F commanded the aesthetic details. L’Épée, a 175-year-old titan of watch mechanics, handled mechanics and manufacturing. The well-received flagship design kicked off a long-standing partnership between its co-creators that has since gained international acclaim.
Enter timepiece expert and creative phenom, William Massena. Massena’s LAB smacks of a refined passion project, stating that it “proposes ideas or concepts to manufacturers that are unusual and beyond the offerings from their collection.” And that’s precisely what Massena set out to do with T-REX – reimagine an already daring concept. A little collaboration later, and the remarkably exclusive T-REX Bronze was born.
Access & Excess: T-REX Bronze Clock
The compounding rate at which modern culture’s accelerated has borne collectors of any and every varietal. Some amass wine, others hoard vintage stamps, and still others (perhaps you included, dear reader) avidly collect timepieces.
The T-REX Bronze clock is a limited-edition model – quite limited, actually – with a mere 15 pieces on offer. And with the asking price of $27,000 a pop, this isn’t a buy for the faint of wallet. But, if you’re a groomed horological curator, what are you waiting for? Time’s a-ticking, and, true to form, this T-REX is a dying breed.
Looking for more outrageous tickers for a little less cha-ching? Scope out our line-up of the most unique wall clocks.