Still™ Modern Wall Clock

A clock is the only object in a room that makes a noise all day whether you want it to or not. Second, second, second — you stop hearing it by four in the afternoon and hear nothing else at two in the morning. Hush™ is built the other way round: the second hand glides instead of stepping, and the room stays quiet.

The movement is a continuous-sweep quartz rather than the stepping kind. A stepping movement jerks the hand forward once a second, and the click you hear is the escapement landing. A sweep movement drives it in one unbroken motion, so there is no landing and no click. It runs on a single AA — not included, because the cell packed in with a clock is usually half dead already — and a fresh alkaline gives roughly a year.

The dial sits behind tempered glass, not the thin acrylic most wall clocks use: it takes a knock, does not fog, and will not scratch and yellow the way acrylic does after two summers on a sunny wall. The numerals are separate raised pieces standing proud of the face, so each one throws its own small shadow and the time reads at a glance instead of a squint. The frame is satin ABS, 4.5 cm deep, and the 25 cm weighs under half a kilo — one nail or one adhesive hook holds it.

Three sizes doing three different jobs. 20 cm for a hallway, a desk wall or the space above a door. 25 cm is the one most people end up wanting — readable from the sofa, small enough not to take over the wall. 30 cm for a kitchen or an open-plan room where you are reading it from three metres away with your hands full.

Dust the glass with a dry microfibre cloth. If it needs more than that, breathe on it and wipe — do not spray anything at it, because liquid running down the bezel can find its way behind the lens. Avoid solvents and any glass cleaner containing ammonia; they will dull the satin frame permanently. If the clock starts losing time, it is almost always the battery rather than the movement, so change the AA before assuming anything worse. Take the battery out if it is going into storage for more than a few months — a leaking cell is the one thing that will finish it off.

Satin-finish ABS frame, tempered glass lens, printed dial with separate raised ABS numerals, and metal hour, minute and second hands on a continuous-sweep quartz movement. Powered by one AA battery, not included. Verified sizes: 8 in / 20 cm, 10 in / 25 cm and 12 in / 30 cm across the frame, all 4.5 cm deep; the 20 cm weighs about 480 g. A single keyhole slot is moulded into the back panel, so one nail, screw or adhesive hook is all the fixing it needs.