Turn back time and re-design! (Swedish Rose Wall Clock)

Member Name: B_O_M_B_A_

Product:	Swedish Rose Wall Clock
Date:	06/08/08 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good looking clock

Disadvantages: A few major design faults

Introduction -

I recently received this clock as a wedding present, I and my partner had put in on our John Lewis wedding list and luckily someone purchased it. We have only just moved into our house and because we are new home owners we haven't collected up many 'Bits' to fill up the walls so for us this was ideal. A clock is always a necessity to avoid missing those deadlines or even your favourite programme (although I am aware SKY and Virgin have a reminder and recording function anyway).

The Clock -

The clock is round as you might imagine, is 36cm in diameter and has a distinct aged look. The border of the clock is a faded cream with distressed dark areas. The distressing is actually very well done; it gives the impression that the clock has been chipped and scratched, but at the same time still says I'm a new clock. The border is layered with 3 steps; it looks to me like how a circular pyramid would look like from above with the top three quarters cut off.

Within the frame there is a cream clock face, although the face isn't as worn as the frame it still appears slightly aged and adds to the effect. Around the edge of the face are the usual numbers 1....12, I find these more attractive and easier to read than the roman numerals many clocks seem to be adopting. Each number is around 3cm high and has a faded black appearance. The font looks similar to Times New Roman but for obvious reasons I can't be too sure. Just outside the numbers is a very small set of parallel lines that have second intersects (at the hours there are small diamonds instead of a line), the gap between the lines is around 1cm, although there is only a first and second hand, you can see the second hand slowly moving between the 60 individual spaces created by the intersecting lines. (I apologise if this is a bit confusing, look at the picture and it should make more sense)

Also on the face is a picture of, yes you guessed it a Swedish rose, the picture is located in the lower land corner of the dial and is around 9cm x 9cm. The rose itself is a slightly darker cream than the dial but similar to the frame, it stands out nicely but doesn't overpower the rest of the dial. The hands are black and have a very ornate look about them that blends in well with the rest of the clock, the second hand reaches all the way to the outer lines while the hour hand reaches to just inside the numbers. I find reading the hands very easy, and compliment the hour numbers.

Problems -

The clock weighs around a kilo so is very easy to handle, although putting the clock up can be a problem. The hole you have to feed the screw in the wall into is actually perfectly flat with the frame of the clock so when placing the clock on the wall you can't see around the back to see if the screw has actually gone into the hole. This means a trial and error approach, you have to push it against the wall and let go, if it starts to fall hold onto it, although you will likely only need to put the clock up a few times in its life it is a design flaw in my opinion, and I found the cream border rubbed off on my painted wall very easily.

The clock does come supplied with batteries so that's not a problem, however I did find that the main body of the clock where you put the batteries in actually moves the face of the clock, I looked at my clock after and realised the face was well off centre and had to readjust, this is down to four metal rods holding it in place which can be moved, one of the plastic pieces holding my metal rod in place also broke so I dare not move mine ever again.

Overall -

The clock costs £35 from John Lewis, if you treat it very carefully it is worth it, once it is on the wall it looks lovely. Some extra though however should have gone into its design in terms of both putting it on the wall and the face moving. I would just about suggest the clock although there might be some better purchases out there for £35.

Summary: It tells the time, so does it job.