D'ni Clock 2

This has been something I've been working on for over a decade: a clock that ticks in D'ni time, the time system of one of the groups of people from the Myst series. The lighting used in this shot helps bring out the texture, for those who wanted to see it clearer.

D'ni time is completely different to regular time - we have three main divisions per day (hours/minutes/seconds) whereas they have four plus an extra colloquial division split in between two, we divide things based on 24 & 60 whereas theirs is divided on 5 & 25, a D'ni "day" lasts roughly 30 hours and 14 minutes and a D'ni "second" lasts roughly 1.4 seconds. Basically nothing matches up.

Like the Death Star, this D'ni clock is fully armed and operational - it's not just decoration, it works! Everything was meticulously figured out & calculated by myself, right from the basics, with no prior knowledge or training in horology or mechanical engineering. I started this when I was thirteen, back in 2000, and the finishing touches were added last weekend... in terms of the time spent on this project, I estimate somewhere around 9,000-10,000 hours. Yes, really. Some people call me crazy.

I did a presentation on their time system & presented a not-quite-finished version of my clock at Mysterium 2009; you can view the presentation here if you're so inclined. Fair warning - it may not be interesting to the average person.


Photography, painting, texturing & styling by the awesome Kate O'Brien.

Be sure to check out the others in this set!