Alessandro Zambelli: Dinn

Dinn, the new clock with a “Campanella” bell by Alessandro Zambelli for Diamantini&Domeniconi – devoted to Paganini – will be presented at Maison&Objet.

The year is 1827; the scene, Teatro La Pergola in Florence. The curtain descends. The stage is bathed in light as hushed darkness falls on the auditorium. The repartee is sparkling, witty, riveting. Flashes of original virtuosity hold the audience spellbound. We may be in a theatre, but this is no set piece. The dialogue is not between actors, for the protagonists are a violin and a bell.

The whimsical genius of Niccolò Paganini created Concerto No. 2 for violin and orchestra. Indeed “La Campanella” (the little bell) is his most famous concerto. And its first performance was by the maestro himself in this ornate Florentine setting.

But musical masterpieces never lose their charm. So, now, musician-designer Alessandro Zambelli has applied the brilliant originality of La Campanella to a furniture accessory created for Diamantini&Domeniconi.

The round face in MDF comes in white and light oak. A small, unexpected bell contrasts brassily with the painted face of the timepiece. The visual impression made by the hands, in anthracite-coloured aluminium, is equally powerful. Clearly they are key features of its idiosyncratic, passing strike mechanism. In fact the minute hand terminates in a tiny hammer which nudges the clapper of the bell hourly, ‘on the dot.’ The clapper swings. It rings the bell.