Top 10 steampunk designs

Tangible smartphone : Turn your smartphone into an old-school dial-up with two interchangeable brass dials, a true rotary dial and a button dial.|
Techno nostalgia : Conceived by New Zealand designer Richard Clarkson, the physical interface design considers what is lost in the digital take-over of everything in our lives.|
Light A Moment : The protective shell of this brass, glass and ceramic candle lantern is opened with a winding mechanism. Inside, the candle is reflected 1 000 times in the mirrors! By Dutch designers Joost van Bleiswijk and Kiki van Eijk for Laikingland.|
Handcrafted future : Because Steampunk is all about realism, most elements of the interior in the MiniSteam were made of real copper, brass, wood and hand-stitched leather. The air bag was also replaced with a XIX century clock mechanism.|
Scorpion tail : He decided to make the movement of the Rolling Bridge in London extraordinary. Photo: Steve Heller.|
Reeled in : Comprising eight segments and using hydraulic rams, the bridge can roll into a perfect circle. Photo: Steve Heller|
Curling walkway : Architect Thomas Heatherwick needed to design a bridge for pedestrians, which would also give way for boats. Photo: Steve Heller.|
Keeping time : The Amazing Mechanical Pomodoro is an iPhone time-management app by ThinkOrange. With impeccable steampunk styling, we can’t decide if it’s old-fashioned or futuristic, which is probably why we need handheld time management!|
Time machine : The Carlex car interior design studio in Poland boast that they go beyond upholstery — the understatement of the century when you see the MiniSteam, which was custom-pimped for the owner of steampunk restaurant in Poland.|
Miniscule mechanical : Inspired by the Victorian era, Polish craftsman Szymon Klimek makes miniscule brass machines often small enough to fit into a wine glass.|
Sun powered : Adding the futuristic element that makes Victorian into steampunk are the tiny solar panels that power the machines.|
Lights camera action : Cape Town’s own Katie Thompson has a magical collection of remixed vintage furniture designs in her Recreate studio and showroom. A standout steampunk piece is this client-commissioned standing lamp made from a photo enlarger.|
Mechanical protea : Hosted in the Moses Mabhida Stadium is French-born, Durban-based designer Xavier Clarisse’s King Protea kinetic sculpture. Working like the aperture of a camera, the flower moves through all its life stages as its dial turns. Photo: Andrew Griffin.|
Wind-up table : The Astrolab by Studio Roche Bobois in Paris is a reinforced glass table with remote-controlled extensions operated by a cog mechanism. Visible beneath the glass, the smooth-motioned giant clockwork is a mesmerising piece of engineering.|
Sensorial steampunk : Emboldening a futuristic vision of Victorian with eye-popping colour and textural details is the interior of the Diptyque Paris perfume boutique in London, designed by UK-based South African designer Christopher Jenner.|
Bottom-up : Oversized library cabinets shooting skyward are furnished with multi-layered classic mouldings and fitted with secret cupboards in English brass, stained glass fret work and magical mirror.|