Miniot’s split-flap clock is what nostalgia sounds like

If you’ve ever experienced the sight and sound of a split-flap display, you’ll immediately understand the nostalgic appeal of Miniot’s pixelated wall clock. Clap clock uses mechanical flaps to convey information, much like the departure boards commonly found in transportation terminals before the advent of LEDs.

As the name suggests, Klapklok functions primarily as a low-resolution clock, displaying the hour and minute hands using 69 (pretty) “paper-like” flaps that act as black and white pixels. But Klapklok also has a Bluetooth app for making pixel drawings if that’s your thing.

Like a clock, a selection of flaps are redrawn every 2.5 minutes with a soothing rustle to show the progress of the hands. At the top of the hour, all 69 flaps are shaken simultaneously to display the time in numbers. That makes Klapklock the “softest cuckoo clock you have ever heard,” according to Miniot.

I think the smooth pixel movement looks great, but it’s really the sound that sold me when I first saw a working prototype last year. Here, listen for yourself.

The USB-C powered clock is a 45cm circular, just 13mm thick and weighs 1.7kg. When the pixels are at rest, it is completely silent, there is no light and it uses very little power. It’s expensive because the array of valves, coils, hinges, magnets and electronics are all assembled by hand in Peter Kolkman’s home workshop – the same place where this small family business ultimately refined its impressive Wheel record player that plays vinyl vertically.

Clap clock will eventually retail for €2,400 (about $2,600). But it is temporarily reduced to € 1,800 (approximately $1,950) for the first batch of 25, which is expected to ship on December 12 to meet the Christmas deadline.