Humans have come up with all kinds of creative timekeeping methods over the centuries. This clock from Netherlands-based design firm Studio Toer calls to mind the ancient methods of using natural elements to mark the passage of time.

Called Shaped by Time, the clock is a minimalist device consisting of a sand-filled dome. Sweeping hands are obscured by the sand, but their path becomes evident as they continue to move over hours and days.

The passage of time becomes less an intangible feeling and more an actual line in the sand the longer the timepiece is allowed to run undisturbed. But when you tire of seeing the minutes marked out in tangible lines, you can simply shake the timepiece to redistribute the sand, effectively erasing the past.