Ralph Adron (1937 - 2023) studied theatre design first at Croydon College of Art with the theatre designer Frederick Crooke and later at the Slade School of Fine Art with Peter Snow and Nicholas Georgiadis. He went on to design sets and costumes professionally for ballets, musical theatre and children’s theatre.

During his career he also taught at various art schools and colleges including Croydon College of Art. As well as designing for theatre and teaching, he also designed interiors often collaborating with his partner, the furniture and interior designer Max Clendinning.

Adron designed and made the clock shown in this design for himself in the 1960s, as he was looking to buy a clock but could not find one that he liked or could afford. As inexpensive, battery-powered, quartz clock movements were becoming available at the time he decided that he could make a clock to his own design and fit it with one of these movements.

Adron’s interest in clocks was inspired by his father’s small but excellent clock collection of longcase and mantle clocks. As a young child he enjoyed the sounds of the clocks ‘from the steady beat to their various chimes’ as well the sound of them being wound as he lay half asleep on Sunday evenings. He was also drawn to the circular quality of time and the circular shape of the clock face.

His first designs for the clock were fairly abstract and architectural. He wanted to make reference to Victorian mantle clocks, the design of which was frequently based on classical temple façades. The base of this clock is inspired by the façades of ancient Mesopotamian ziggurat temples and has six dentils as its feet. Originally standing upon this base was a simple, thick ring containing the clock face instead of the doughnut face of the finished design. He altered the design after a friend saw his sketches and asked if he was redesigning the doughnut. This immediately bought to his mind the doughnut design and the polite invitation ‘do have a doughnut.’ He added a hand holding the doughnut, the clock hands became two miniature human hands with pointing index fingers and the cartoon-like quality of the design was emphasised. This black felt-tip drawing is the final working drawing for the clock.