At a glance
- Subject type
- clockmaking and kinetic art practice
- Historical origin
- Zurich, Switzerland (AHCI listing)
- Important date layers
- Not established in this research pass
Two kinds of motion in one clock
The Frog Queen combines motion governed by the clock with a separate performance that the owner winds. The hourly frog and twelve-hour queen sequence belong to the time display; the fish-and-swan automaton has its own fifteen-minute run. Keeping those systems distinct prevents a basic but consequential error in explaining the object’s power reserve. An enthusiast can begin with the snake minute hand, then watch the slower scene changes, rather than search for conventional hour and minute hands. The available account explains the sequence, not every hidden linkage: a later writer should not invent cams or gearing that the source does not reveal. 1
From hour flowers to a frog queen
The earlier exhibition account of Flower Clock gives a documented comparison for Eleta’s later work: moving flowers take the place of a conventional dial while the pendulum and winding weights still expose its clockmaking basis. The Frog Queen carries that readable sequence into a more elaborate scene. This is a productive design question rather than a personality sketch—what visual action conveys an hour, and what motion is simply a separately activated spectacle? The manufacturing attribution is equally concrete: the maker claims the crafted parts but excludes the glass figures. That exception deserves to survive even in an admiring account. 21
Key dates
Ownership and continuity
Practice chronology describes development from kinetic art and clockmaking to commissioned clocks; legal-company continuity unverified. 34
Watchmakers and designers linked to Miki Eleta
These people have a sourced relationship to this brand in the Enjoy Watches register. The label beside each name states the relationship recorded; it should not be read as a broader employment or ownership claim.
- Miki Eleta — Own watchmaking practice
Identification and service
For an individual watch, record the complete reference, serial, dial, case, and movement markings and compare them with dated primary documentation.
A brand history cannot authenticate, appraise, or establish the provenance of a particular watch.
Evidence and limits
How the claims are supported
- source stated claim
In The Frog Queen, a frog appears hourly; the queen and flower sequence operates every twelve hours, while a snake serves as the minute hand.
- source stated claim
The Frog Queen also has a separately hand-wound fish-and-swan automaton stated to run for fifteen minutes; the clock’s own stated reserve is one week.
- verified fact
A reporter who met Eleta at an AHCI exhibition described Flower Clock’s mechanically opening and closing hour flowers, pendulum and winding weights.
- source stated claim
Eleta credits himself with the plants, animals and other parts of The Frog Queen except its glass figures.
- verified fact
Miki Eleta’s website presents a practice creating mechanical clocks and kinetic art, rather than a general movement-parts supply business.
- source stated claim
Eleta’s own chronology dates his work with kinetic art and clock construction to 1996, with private clock commissions and exhibitions becoming a principal focus in 2004.
- verified fact
AHCI and Eleta’s biography record his membership beginning in 2008.
- source stated claim
The Frog Queen is identified by its maker as a 2026 table clock.
- source stated claim
AHCI lists Miki Eleta at Arbentalstrasse 311 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Known limits
- Practice and 2026 object are documented; incorporation, client, delivery, internal diagrams and glass-maker attribution remain unknown.
Direct sources
- The Frog QueenMiki Eleta · official technical description · accessed September 15, 2026
Locator: Description of frog, flower/queen and snake indications; Separate automaton paragraph; Power reserve; Manufacturing attribution paragraph; Heading: The Frog Queen, 2026. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.
- Who Exactly is Miki Eleta?Monochrome Watches · original reporting · accessed September 15, 2026
Locator: Flower Clock paragraphs following exhibition discussion. External source.
- Miki Eleta — Unique TimepiecesMiki Eleta · first party · accessed September 15, 2026
Locator: Timepieces and opening presentation. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.
- Portrait / Philosophy / BiographyMiki Eleta · first person biography · accessed September 15, 2026
Locator: Portrait chronology; Biography: 1996 and 2004; AHCI paragraph. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.
- Miki Eleta – AHCIAHCI · professional association profile · accessed September 15, 2026
Locator: Member since 2008; Contact block. First-party source; its statements remain attributed.
Corrections
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