Wall Clocks – Ball Clock

In 1947, the American designer George Nelson was commissioned to create a collection of clocks. The first collection of 14 timepieces, consisting of a completely new style of wall clocks and compact table clocks, was launched on the market in 1949. Although the individual models all shared one common feature – the absence of numbers – the diversity of their shapes, colours, materials and designs could hardly have been greater.

One of these first wall clocks was the Ball Clock, which went on to become an icon of American mid-century modernism over the ensuing decades, and in the 35 years that followed, the designers at Nelson Associates conceived more than a hundred different models: wall clocks, portable table clocks and built-in clocks. Vitra began reissuing the Nelson Clocks in 1999.

2024 marks the 25th anniversary of Vitra's re-edition of the Wall Clocks and the 75th anniversary of their original market launch. To commemorate the occasion, Vitra is releasing a limited edition of the Ball Clock in the four colour versions Dawn, Sunrise, Sunset and Dusk, which interpret the moods of different times of day with atmospheric colour gradients.