Enso Pearl

Here’s a pop fact: Enso means circle in Japanese. Which may go some way to explaining the Enso Pearl. Because this slim device actually counts down by slowly forming a complete circle around the LCD face.

It’s particularly handy on those occasions when numbers are too distracting – such as when you’re meditating, holding a yoga pose, or even setting yourself a few spinning exercises on an exercise bike. With the Enso Pearl you can get a clear idea of how much time has passed, and how much still remains without having to befuddle your brain with mental arithmetic.

Set up to 50 sequential times and the Enso will happily work through each one in turn. So you’ll know exactly when to change your yoga pose, when to kick your exercise bike up a gear and when you can knock it all off and have a biscuit.

You can even exercise with your eyes closed (if you want to) since the Enso can be set to give you audio cues as well. Far more soothing than a digital ‘beep beep’, choose between the gentle chimes of Tibetan or Japanese singing bowls. It’s the perfect way to move between states of meditation, or wake from a cheeky afternoon nap.

In fact, the Enso Pearl is about as relaxed as an alarm clock could possibly get, and is small enough to slot into your gym bag or sit discreetly on your desk. Ah, excuse us – that’s our nap chime...