Property: At Home - Clocks: Time flies when you have to be in three places at once

Here's a hands-on approach to time-keeping, Rosalind Russell says, with designs in minute detail.

Some people need three clocks to tell the time simultaneously in London, New York and Sydney, either because they are so busy and important, or because they're too lazy to work out the time difference. But then time is money.

Especially to people like Sylvester Stallone, who has a gold-faced clock covering the entire ceiling of the breakfast room of his Miami waterfront home, described by a breathless admirer as "neo-classical". It's certainly different, but hard to say if it's just what you need in the morning above your Marmite and toast.

Nottingham-based portrait artist Christopher Unwin has been making hand- painted clocks for three years, an artistic sideline that turned into a business. He has a range of designs which include a stripy cat in front of a lighthouse, a seagull sitting on the sand, polar bears, and different sailing ships, but he'll accept commissions to paint anything you like, including a picture of your own home.

He has already painted a client's country cottage on one clock. The clock casings are painted in a combination of acrylic and emulsion paints on a wooden base and have a cracked distressed finish. The maritime clocks - and freestanding beach-hut clocks - have proved popular with Americans, possibly because the design reminds them of New England.

One American visiting Nottingham from his US nuclear base in Norfolk saw Christopher's work and commissioned him to paint a ship. Not Polaris, disappointingly, but a particular sailing ship which he supplied a picture of. The buyer was equally particular about the exact shade of background colour. "They do like to match up the clock with the curtains," comments the artist drily.

Another current commission has come from an actor appearing at the Nottingham Playhouse. His clock will feature figures from the Commedia del'Arte; harlequin-type figures in ornate costume, which pre-date pantomime, and which require careful research.

Christopher Unwin's clocks start at pounds 54, but commissions are negotiable, depending on the complexity of design. He displays his clocks on the website www.emnet.co.uk/painted clocks.

Almost all the leading design shops now feature a range of clocks to match contemporary or quirky furnishings. The Art Room's spring mail order brochure includes the popular floppy clock, inspired by Salvador Dali's melting timepieces. Made of resin, in bright blue, it's designed to sit on a shelf over four inches deep. It costs pounds 79.95 plus postage.

BhS have introduced a smart floor-standing, battery-operated clock with metal legs and face surround either in natural wood or painted blue, which wouldn't look out of place in a loft-style show home; pounds 35 through the Home & Lighting catalogue. More retro is Debenhams' mock tortoiseshell clock, either round or square, at pounds 15.

If tempus rarely fugits for you, you can always build your own grandfather clock. Just 35cm when assembled, it's the grandfather of all jigsaw puzzles, with foam-backed pieces, ornate cabinet paintings, Roman numerals, a working mechanism and a traditional moon crownpiece. It costs pounds 39.95 from the mail order firm Bits & Pieces.

But for those who really do have to know the time in three cities at once, the Maritime Company offers the Bristol Shipping Company clocks, three clocks showing the time in New York, London and Victoria on a hand- painted wooden background, for pounds 69.50 plus postage.

Christopher Unwin, 0115 9856 389; Art Room, 01993 770444; BhS, 0990 24700; Debenhams, 0171 408 4444; Bits & Pieces, 01379 649 629; The Maritime Company, 01993 770450.