This $57,750 Robot Table Clock Is As Intricate As It Sounds

Since it was founded in 2005, watchmaker MB&F has made a name for itself with its unique, futuristic designs. The company has arguably outdone itself with its latest design, a clock table that looks like it could be a personal robot assistant, a report from Luxury Launches details.

The firm, which has also released a series of eight watches inspired by the steampunk stylings of Jules Verne, collaborated with famous Swiss watchmaker L'Epée to create the MB&F x L’Epée 1839 Balthazar Table Clock.

A robot with a "bright" and "dark" side

As Luxury Launches points out, the table clock looks just like a robot and it costs as much as one too with its hefty $57,750 price tag. How do MB&F and L’Epée justify such a massive price tag for a table clock, you might ask?

Much as with both company's incredibly intricate watches, it is in the eye of the beholder. Watch and clock fanatics, however, will no doubt enjoy the complex machinery displayed on both sides of the robot clock. As a point of reference, if you were to cleanly smash one of these things using a hammer it would break up into 405 components and 62 jewels.

The clock's "bright side", distinguished by the robot's smiling expression, uses double retrograde seconds dials for eyes and hour and minute dials on its chest. The robot can be turned around to view the "dark side," which features a dual-hemisphere moon phase indicator as well as a hidden winding key. The main body is made out of palladium-plated polished brass.

A robot-themed table clock for almost the price of a Boston Dynamics robot

The machine was named Balthazar by MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser. On MB&F's website he explains how "in the Büsser family, for over five centuries from the 1400s onwards, every eldest Büsser son was either called Melchior or Balthazar. It alternated. My grandfather was called Melchior and hated it, so he had everybody call him Max, which is how I became a Max. My grandfather hated the Melchior-Balthazar thing so much that he put an end to this 500-year-old tradition by calling my father Mario… Now, a century later, I happen to love the names Melchior and Balthazar!"

Unsurprisingly, the machine, which is 39.4 cm high and 23.8 cm wide (depending on arm position), will be released as a limited edition collectible and only 50 examples will be made in Switzerland. While Balthazar undeniably looks like an intricate, polished collectible, we can't help feeling that anyone thinking of forking out $57,570 for this machine may as well just dig a little deeper into their pockets and pay the $74,500 asking price for a Boston Dynamics Spot robot — as that machine can tell you the time and bring you a beer at the same time.