“Time is of the essence” is not only a wellworn maxim but also increasingly relevant to how we live our lives every day: fast, on the go and unable to relish in the little pleasures. The increasing demand to measure time more closely has led Swiss watchmaker Bell & Ross to move in the opposite direction. They’ve created the limited edition Twelve O’Clock set, consisting of 12 watches that display strictly the hours and not the minutes or seconds. The timepieces come in Bell & Ross’ signature square shape with a black PVD finish and anti-reflective sapphire crystal, but what makes these watches so unique is the delivery: the hours indicated on the dial come together as perfectly vertical numerical digits only two times a day per watch, when the three independent disks of the dial align themselves to display the exact hour. For each Twelve O’Clock set there is one box containing twelve automatic watches with twelve battery-powered winders on push button operation. So at any given time, only one watch is close to showing the correct hour — in the above image it would be 5 o’clock. The concept behind this timepiece has led many to consider this watch a piece of art rather than a functional accessory, but at $88,000 a pop one would hope you put some mileage on that kind of investment. Only 12 Twelve O’Clock sets will be produced, each with 12 watches water resistance up to a depth of 100 meters.

via Watchtime