Richard Sapper

“Munich, May 30, 1932 – Milan, December 31, 2015

In the 1950s, while working at the design center of La Rinascente in Milan, the young Richard Sapper received his first independent commissions, including one from the watch company Lorenz. The owner, Tullio Bolletta, contacted him on the recommendation of a secretary at La Rinascente, who suggested he turn to a ‘good designer’ in order to win the Compasso d’Oro. Bolletta proposed that Sapper design a clock using unused mechanisms from military torpedoes.

Sapper accepted the challenge and created the Static, a table clock crafted from a single block of turned steel, featuring an internal weight that allowed it to remain balanced and right itself when moved. The dial was inspired by that of a wartime aircraft instrument clock he had found at a Milan flea market.

The result—innovative in both form and concept—earned Sapper, then only 29, the Compasso d’Oro in 1960, marking the beginning of his brilliant career as a designer.”