In an era when scientific minds continue to ponder the question of whether time travels in one direction only, L’Epée 1839 takes advantage of the present to take off and explore the future.
The Time Machine is nothing less than a mechanical sculpture that tells time. The entire upper part revolves. A single button sets the entire time capsule – the glass tube, the carriage, the time display, and the whole mechanical movement – rotating and transporting you through time. The two propellers at either end of the carriage are also mobile: the first winds the movement, while the second adjusts the time.
Inspired by the most famous time machines and created with meticulous attention to detail, the Time Machine is the combined result of three minds from very different backgrounds: engineer and creator Nicolas Bringuet, designer Martin Bolo, and artistic director and general manager of L’Epée 1839, Arnaud Nicolas. Together they have created a mobile and truly dynamic scientific instrument that offers some subtle nods to the worlds of industry and cinema, while shining a light on mechanical clockmaking.
From the 1960s MGM movie, The Time Machine, itself inspired by H.G.Wells’ 1895 science fiction novel The Time Machine: An Invention, to the television series of the 2000s and the legendary Back to the Future trilogy of movies, they all had one thing in common: a machine capable of traveling through time. Whether in a DeLorean or a telephone booth, they all involved human manipulation, as does the Time Machine itself, which is based on the codes of the most beautiful mechanical devices of recent centuries.
Each element of the Time Machine has been conceived and designed to evoke a memory. The capsule consists of a glass tube with a propeller at each end, symbolizing movement, the vortex, and science. The technically indispensable part required to lock the tube's rotation is inspired by the very first machine featured in the film The Time Machine. Finally, the tripod reflects the temporal convector of one of the most famous American cars of the 1980s, the DeLorean. Every detail is significant.
