INTRODUCTION

In my third year of college, one of our lecturers tasked us with creating an unconventional clock. There were no constraints as to what we could create though it couldn't just be a rehash of the OG clock or a sundial or something that already been done before. We had to conceptualise our own unique model for telling time. Also, our idea didn't need to be practical in any sense, it was an exercise in creativity.

So I got to work thinking up potential ideas, moodboarding and all the like until I came up with something I was pretty proud of. Then like with every assignment I've ever had throughout my schooling, I promptly forget about it.

Years later(like two years. I'm not that old yet!), I was going through my Google Drive and saw some images from that project and felt inspired. When I first came up with the this idea I was just beginning to explore 3d modelling, photo-bashing and video creation and while I haven't made too much headway regarding, I'm pretty good at the other two. Plus I use a 3D software that leagues easier than Blender or Maya.

Basically, I gave myself the challenge to try modelling the Persechron and doing some other video editing stuff to really bring this idea to life.

CONCEPT STAGE

So, I wanna make an unconventional clock. Where do I start? The place I always start. Greek Mythology.

If there's ten things you have to know about me, at least one of those things is my undying love/obsessions for mythology, fairytale and legends and Greek mythology was what sparked that curiosity.

It's been my well of inspiration for a huge chunk of my story ideas as well as the reason why I chose the name Ianthe for myself.

For this particular idea I was inspired by the myth of Persephone as an allegory for the changing of the seasons.

Quick rundown of the myth for the 3 people who don't already know it. Persephone is minding her own business on a Tuesday when some dude kidnaps her and takes her to his man-pad in the Underworld. Her Mom gets super pissed about the whole thing and decides to make it everyone's business by casting eternal winter on the world. Zeus doesn't like this and asks one of his sons to get the girl back but because of some contrived business with a pomegranate she's lawfully detained in the Underworld’s really nice gulag. There's a hearing, probably some crying and cursing and the judge basically decides to give both Persephone’s mom and the guy who kidnapped her joint custody. Persephone and Hades get married, winter becomes a permanent fixture of our reality and I'm sure at least like one person lived happily ever after.

The Persephone myth is just an older person telling you how they met the love of their life while listing off literal crimes.

MORE CONCEPT STAGE

But the part of the myth relevant to my clock project regards the idea of cycles. Persephone's descent into the Underworld dictating the beginning of winter and her re-emergence ushering in new spring. I wanted my clock to have a similar narrative. The light of our world descending into the black expanse of space and reappearing in the dawn. I also wanted to play into the duality of time. Life and Death. Day and night. Good and Evil. I experimented with the idea of an orb skating across the circumference of a disk and descending into a pool of water at the halfway point, only to remerge again at the other side. Here's some images I banged out quickly in PowerPoint.

CREATION STAGE

So, with the images I'd created I set out to create a new version of my Persechron. I opened up my 3D modelling app of choice, Womp 3D. It's a web application that's free and pretty easy to use for basic 3D models.
If you're interested in 3d and are looking for an app to play around with you can find Womp here.

Here's a little time-lapse.

CREATION STAGE

After a few days of work I was able to create a model I was proud of. Though there were some issues regarding lighting and animation I got a result I'm pretty proud of.

Honestly I was so impressed with what I was able to achieve in the time frame. I'd been experimenting with 3d for years but I've never managed to create a finished render that I'd actually be proud to let the public view. It's mostly just 3d models for the purpose of painting over. But here she is.

CREATION STAGE

Also I changed the name at the behest of my brother. Before I'd called this object the Persephonichron but it was a mouthful and he suggested just shortening it to the Persechron so that's the official name now. All that left to do is find a wealthy angel investor looking to overhaul the current way we represent time and have him invest in my wierd clock thing. Unlikely, I know.

But just in case one of said angel investors somehow found their way onto my page I suppose I should explain this weird little device.

The Persechron has 4 bands of gemstones to represent the different phases of the day.

The outermost band represents dawn and the morning; the first light of the morning, typically represented by light blues, teals or greens.

The next band is daylight or the afternoon, typically a deep blue.

The next band is evening light. Basically the setting of the sun is measured here and is typically represented by reds or pinks.

The innermost band represents the night and is typically black, dark blue, purple and any other dark colors.

This splits the day into 4 parts and in order to understand how much light you have left you use the Traveller and the Origin.

The traveller moves from gem to gem clockwise while the origin stays static in each band. To see how much light has been lost in each part of the day, you count clockwise from the Origin to the Traveller.

e.g in the picture above 6 Shades of light have been lost and we are on the Seventh shade of light.

The picture below shows how the Traveller moves across each gem. Notice when it reaches the Origin the traveller changes its color to red. This is the Dead Light and it indicates that the part of the day the traveler was on has ended and the band is now unreadable. A new traveller will light up in the next band.

Finally there's the False Sun. This lights up when certain gems are lit to make it easier to read the time. It also doubles as a lamp at darker times of day. It's normally lit up at its full power during the night and at early parts of the morning.

WORLDBUILDING AND ETIQUETTE

So, as I was designing this device I got to thinking about the kinda way it could be used. Now, if you didn't already know we humans already have a pretty effective means of calculating time(one that doesn't hinge on interpreting pretty, glowing colors), so I instead decided to imagine a society where for some or other reason this particular device is the only means of communicating the passage of time.

Why is the Persechron designed in this way?

I think the society in question would have a very dire view of day and night, particularly nighttime. Rather than a natural phenomenon or the rotation of our little planet round the sun they view the night time as some Great Devourer.

This entity consumes light and heat, banishing sunshine to the dark regions of space time and in its place it leaves reminders of that warmth in the sky; the stars and the moon.

For some reason or another, they've learnt to fear the nighttime, perhaps due to the frigid cold that overrun their civilization or even worse, predators that only grew more vicious under the hood of darkness.

WORLDBUILDING AND ETIQUETTE

I'd imagine this device was created in the industrial age of this civilisation. The threats of the night undermined for the most part, maybe even abandoned to the realm of mythology. Maybe this threat is fenced off behind large walls or all but obliterated by nuclear bombs. Now, without immediate threat, frivolity is allowed to prosper and humanity can indulge in the arts, music, and the pursuit of beauty.

This device, that might have once been a safekeep, has now become a status symbol.

For those who haven't much in their coffers they can always go to the store and by themselves a small, inexpensive Persechron. The sort of thing that came out of the mouth of a furnace and had its little plastic gemstones filled in by the metal fingers of some contraptions before being thrown onto a pile with other identical Persechrons to be sold en masse.

It's not too pretty but it gets the job done.

But what if you're a person of means?

What if you're part of the wealthy aristocracy and want some lavish, little trinket to whip out of your pocket?

What if your desire is to be envied by all?

PERSECHRON ART

As a means of showing the Persechron in different lighting environments I decided to draw.

Sunrise

Daytime

Rainy Sunset

Nighttime