Grenade/Deep Blue 74.6012/404

The hours and minutes are displayed on two black aluminium disks rotating directly over the beating heart of Grenade. Ticking away at a traditional 18,000 vibrations per hour, the balance is front and center, audibly reminding us that time is slipping away, and we never know how much time we have left. Once you wind Grenade and set its time display, the next step is to seize the day.

Grenade’s frame is composed of five distinct plates and six vertical supports, all notched and interlocking to resemble the grooved shell of the original MKII grenade. The key pin, which is safely stored in the fuse-shaped frame atop the structure when not in use, is removed and inserted onto a post in the center of the top plate to set the time. A small pointer, modelled after the 1915 German stick grenade, indicates the hours and minutes as they rotate slowly by on disks.

The going train is mounted in the centre of Grenade, peeking out from behind the balance and escapement assembly positioned on the front. Underneath is the long eight-day mainspring barrel that is wound from a post on the bottom of the clock.

The pin is the main point of interaction with a grenade – as it is with the L’EpéeGrenade. Unlike the historical MKII, whose purpose was violence, the Grenade clock seeks only to challenge our perceptions of time and what it means to our lives. Many think of time like a flowing river, but time is made up of infinite tiny moments lined up next to each other. The tick-tock of Grenade highlights these small moments, each an opportunity to change one’s life.