The Most Famous Design Wall Clocks — and Why They Hold the Wall

The wall clock is the smallest piece of furniture in a room and often the most visible: at eye level, at the centre of the wall. The mid-century made it a genre of its own — George Nelson alone designed more than a hundred and fifty. Here are the ones that matter.

1. Ball Clock — George Nelson, 1949

Twelve wooden balls at the end of twelve steel spokes — the atom turned clock, at the very moment America was dreaming of the atomic age. Legend has it that it was drawn one evening at a party, between Nelson, Bucky Fuller and Noguchi, with no one quite sure who held the pencil. See the original and its alternatives →

2. Sunburst — George Nelson, 1950

A sun of black rods and gilded points: more graphic, more dressed-up than the Ball. It is the clock of serious mid-century sitting rooms — Vitra still makes it. See the original and its alternatives →

3. The other famous hours

The Nelson family also counts the Eye, the Asterisk and the Spindle; Italy answered with Gino Valle's Cifra 3 — the flip clock that inspired airport departure boards — and Japan with the pared-down dials of Riki Watanabe. All can be hunted down; the Vitra reissues remain the surest route to a wall that doesn't cheat.

And if you've spotted one in a photo?

Every piece on this list has its reference page on Beyit, with the original, its history and alternatives at every price. And if a piece of furniture intrigues you in a photo — an Instagram interior, a film, a period house — scan it: Beyit identifies it.