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Object Timeline

1962

  • Work on this object began.

2017

2018

2021

2023

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Tonearm Balance (Tonarmwaage)

This is a Tonearm Balance (Tonarmwaage). It was designed by Dieter Rams and manufactured by Braun AG. It is dated 1962 and we acquired it in 2017. Its medium is metal, plastic, foam. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

In the 1960s, the increasing sophistication of recording techniques and the rising popularity of the LP record contributed to a demand for high-quality audio equipment. Dieter Rams was a leading designer in this new market. Showing Rams’s acute attention to clarity and simplicity, the Tonarmwaage is a scale that allowed users to determine and then balance a phonograph’s tonearm settings.

This object was donated by Robert Greenberg. It is credited Gift of Robert M. Greenberg.

  • Clock (USA)
  • steel (stainless), plexiglass.
  • Gift of Hank Horwitt.
  • 1991-140-8-a,b
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Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 17 × 8 × 2.5 cm (6 11/16 in. × 3 1/8 in. × 1 in.) H x W x D (on stand): 21 × 8 × 2.5 cm (8 1/4 in. × 3 1/8 in. × 1 in.)

Cite this object as

Tonearm Balance (Tonarmwaage); Designed by Dieter Rams (German, b. 1932); Manufactured by Braun AG (Germany); metal, plastic, foam; H x W x D: 17 × 8 × 2.5 cm (6 11/16 in. × 3 1/8 in. × 1 in.) H x W x D (on stand): 21 × 8 × 2.5 cm (8 1/4 in. × 3 1/8 in. × 1 in.); Gift of Robert M. Greenberg; 2017-51-3

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Jon Gray of Ghetto Gastro Selects and Bob Greenberg Selects.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1141960825/ |title=Tonearm Balance (Tonarmwaage) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2023 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>