Legendary Apple designer Marc Newson has unveiled his latest product: an egg timer. And it costs $12,000 (£9,300).

The 53-year-old Australian has collaborated with watch website Hodinkee to produce "The Marc Newson Hourglass," and, well, it's really something special. "Sometimes you see an object and it just captivates you. You can't look away. You can't even really explain what you're looking at either. Marc Newson's Hourglass is one such object,"Hodinkee's blog post intones. "It takes the idea of one of the most basic time-measuring instruments ever devised, and pushes it to its limits."

The handmade timer measures out 10 minutes — but it doesn't contain anything as pedestrian as sand to do so. Instead, it uses "nanoballs," seamless stainless steel bal bearings coated in copper. There's a limited run of just 100 of the products available, and they cost an eye-watering $12,000 a pop.

On the plus side, there's free international shipping. Apple and Ive weren't involved with the creation of the hourglass, but Newson and Ive have collaborated on projects outside of Apple before. In December 2016, they designed the Christmas tree for Claridge's hotel in central London. It was literally just a tree, with nothing on it. (Visitors seemed to like it though!)

The Marc Newson Hourglass comes with Newson's signature printed on the side, and a "custom-fitted orange foam box" for safekeeping.

Source: businessinsider