Whenever anyone visits my home, two pieces always seem to elicit a lot of questions/interest. The first is the Sputnik chandelier, and the other is this sunburst clock.
This little beauty comes courtesy of Target and is "inspired" by the designs of George Nelson (although target.com gives him zero credit). The "spikes" are slightly less elongated, the color scheme is a bit off, and there is that irritating logo on the face, but other than those few small differences, it remains pretty faithful to the original design. If I ever feel up to it, I might get out the spray paint and gussy it up a little.
I've seen a few original Nelson spike clocks pop up on Craigslist recently and reproductions are available through Vitra, but they all cost hundreds of dollars. That ain't gonna happen. While I understand the draw of originality and designer names, I'm just looking for the maximum style + value per dollar.
With coupons, my total came to $35.63. The next cheapest knockoff I could find was $178 and Design Within Reach wants an absurd $327.25 for a Vitra repro! Sure, nobody will ever mistake this clock for a Nelson, but with a savings of $291.62, I think I can live with that.
