That's been the theme of my month with Durr: how I perceive and make use of my time is invariably wrong. I spoke with Durr’s creators, Theo Tveterås and Lars Vedeler, about my experience, and while it wasn’t quite what they had in mind when designing Durr, they admit that its purpose is ambiguous at best.

To Tvertås and Vedeler, Durr was simply an experiment. After a conversation about how quickly a busy day at the office had flown by, they wondered if there was a simple way they could keep track of time. In half an hour, they'd created a clunky prototype, and were enthralled enough by their wrist-worn metronome to pursue the idea further. Speaking with them, I get the impression that they're very happy for people to interpret its vibrations in whatever way they want. This initial run, which sold out in a little over six weeks, has garnered conflicting opinions from buyers and observers alike. Apparently, some have given the designers feedback similar to mine, reporting increased productivity. An alternate interpretation is that Durr serves as a memento mori, a friendly vibrating reminder that your death is now five minutes closer.

A friendly vibrating reminder that your death is now five minutes closer

That Durr presents very little reason for its existence has drawn criticism from some — its makers refer to scrolling through online comments as "psychological self-mutilation." But if its obtuse simplicity has provoked some unwanted negativity, reaction to its price has at times been vitriolic. The initial run was priced at €90 (around $120), which in the world of limited-run watches is fairly low, but some commenters compared it to "an egg timer on a strap" and called out the designers for overpricing what is admittedly a simple piece of electronics.

Tvetarås and Vedeler defend the price, noting that most consumers are used to mass-produced electronics. "At our level of low volume and scale everything is more expensive," says Tvetarås. "We're not making much money out of this." Although they don't mention it, there’s also the small matter of location: the watch was designed and made in Oslo, Norway. It’s perhaps the most expensive city in the world, a place where a Big Mac costs $7.80 and a pair of Levi’s 501s will set you back $150. To me, I bought an alpha product made by a pair of designers with no outside funding. Yes it’s expensive, but at this stage in development it shouldn’t be judged against other products.