As creepy as it may sound, some people enjoy wearing a death clock on their wrist. The unbelievable success of the Tikker wristwatch is firm proof of that.
I remember a joke about a guy that goes to his doctor for a medical checkup. After finishing the examination, the doctor tells him that he only has 10 left. Baffled, the patient asks: “10 what? Years? Months?” In a very calm tone, the doctor replies: “9, 8, 7…” This is what will probably happen to the ones wearing the Tikker death watch when their time runs out.
Basically, this timepiece isn’t for individuals who are looking forward to meet their own expiration date. On the contrary, Tikker plans to remind people that their time on Earth is not infinite, and that they should spend it wisely. Every culture has a different perception of death, and some may look at it as the final thing, with nothing to follow it, while others may think of it as a great passing.
The idea behind Tikker is to make every second count, as even the printed ads say. Seize the day, or Carpe Diem, as the now-extinct Romans used to say. Fredrik Colting started thinking about a death watch a couple of years ago, when his grandfather died: “It made me think about death and the transience of life, and I realized that nothing matters when you are dead. Instead what matters is what we do when we are alive.”
Currently, Tikker is a project on Kickstarter, but there is no doubt that it will soon enter mass production. At press time, backers pledged $55,555, more than twice the initial goal, so don’t act surprised if you see people around you wearing Tikker death watches around their wrists. This timepiece only displays the countdown to the last breath and the current time, so it is by no means a smartwatch. In this context, some may find the $39 price tag reasonable, while others might think it’s a bit too much for a watch with such basic functions. Obviously, Tikker will be available in several different colors.
Additional details are available on the MyTikker website, where the designers, free-thinkers, lovers and life-afficionados that created this death watch have even posted a bucketlist, and encouraged others who have one to mail theirs to [email protected].
If you liked this post, please check this accurate clock that reminds you that you will die and this wall clock that hates numbers.
