Designer Georgios Maridakis offers us the very best in breakthrough technology. Literally. He's created a clock that consists of an apparatus made of wood and copper and a porcelain vase that's designed to burst into a million pieces ... someday.

On the hour, a copper beater smacks into the vase, producing a pleasant chime. Over time, these continued beatings will eventually stress the vase, create fractures, and finally cause it to shatter.

This might sound bizarre, creating a clock-cum-art piece with a death wish, but Maridakis's invention is for repeated use. The hammer is adjustable, allowing the clock's owner to fit a wide range of vase sizes onto the base, giving you both an accurate timepiece and a way to get rid of those ugly vases that seem to collect around the house in spectacular fashion.