Four big cylinders with digit parts that thanks to their movement form hours and minutes, marking the flow of time. Differently from flip clocks or rotary clocks, in this digi-glo each number is ‘composed’ by little sticks, similarly to digital clocks, but with a mechanical, analogic process.
Manufactured by Kabushiki-gaisha Sankyo, one of the great engineering company of 70s Japan, Digi-Glo is a brilliant application of typography (did Steve Jobs know it? would Steve Jobs have admired it?) and pure engineering wisdom. Moreover, the delicate tickling of the mechanism and the beauty of the curved plastic chassis make this clock a source of sensorial experiences.
While the Sankyo Digi-Glo stands out as a reference for engineering creativity, othe rmodel and makers have flourished in Japan – like Copal legendary Caslon series – and Europe – like the famous Solari with its iconic Cifra and Synchron clocks.
No record, no commemorative plaque is associated with the ingenious people who conceived and masterfully produced the digi-glo mechanism. They lived and worked in Tokyo in the 70s, for a company whose corporate slogan was ‘Good Luck, Good Life’… We hope they really had a very good life.
