Hourglass Tattoo Photos, Designs, and Explanations

Amazing hourglass tattoo and designs that you just got to see! Stunning tattoo art. The Hourglass has long been a symbol of the passage of time in which the sands of the past and future blur together towards one constant and inevitable outcome, that time will run out for us all. Thus the hourglass for centuries has been associated with death and the passing of souls from this realm to the next, even being placed in coffins and still gracing grave sites today. Let’s see how these tattoo’s did with this powerful symbol.

 

20. Geometric Hourglass

Simple, sharp, clean lines clearly define this tattoo and bright explosions of lava orange-red with powerful blasts of yellow make this timepiece stand out fiercely on pale skin. Serving to represent the present being between the past and the future, the hourglass is an enduring symbol of time itself and this simplistic, yet bold inscribe, with all its precisely inked geometric lines, will withstand the test of time till the sands run out completely. A polished piece, vivid, and to the point.

 

19. Morbid Sand Timer

With the sands of time running out, this tattoo is ablaze with poison green liquid sand falling into the lower chamber of the hourglass, lighting up skull base in reflective, emerald glow. A skull and crossbones crowns the sand timer and, with dark shadowy background, ties the piece together, a symbol of time running out and a morbid reminder to live every day to the fullest. This is a really cool tattoo with bold color injection and excellent shading work, and nicely marks that time is forever the enemy to one’s cause.

 

18. Time Blossoms Hourglass

A very unusual hourglass tattoo featuring a tree, made up of geometric shapes and getting ready to blossom, growing up and out of the sand timer, representative of life becoming fruitful through the passing of time. Perhaps then, this tattoo hints at the value of patience. The hourglass appears to be half full, another positive element, and the tree which looks like it could be a cherry blossom’ a symbolic reminder that we exist only for a short time, like the cherry blossom, a short but sweet life. An interesting and positive tattoo reminding the wearer that though life is short there is a lot of beauty and rewards intertwined with it. A simple hourglass within a well shaded, growing tree makes this a successful piece laced with hidden meaning.

 

17. Traditional Hourglass Tattoo

Memento Mori, Latin, translating to “remember (that you have) to die”, a perfect phrase for a timepiece counting down to the end of life. This tattoo is a symbolic reminder of mortality, and features a red rose, with well placed yellow highlights, indicative of timelessness and possibly symbolic of an immortal love that will never fade, even through time and death. Beautiful, clean, thin lines give this brand a really polished look, and the coloring work is excellent. A traditional, pretty tattoo that is a stark reminder that this isn’t the dress rehearsal, time will run out and we do indeed, have to die. Lovely.

 

16. Watercolor Hourglass

A broken hourglass, it’s translucent purple-red liquefied sands of time pouring out onto surrounding flesh, graces the skin symbolizing time flowing away, and in this case an attempt to stop time by braking the time keeper. The watercolor technique works perfectly here with just enough color saturation to still maintain that watery, liquid feel, and awesome shading and line work give the whole piece a very realistic look. A stylish tattoo symbolic of time always changing, or perhaps with the break in the hourglass, time running away, or time stopped altogether; eternity frozen in a hour.

 

15. Tree Out of Time

Out of the sands of time grows a tree, laden with birds that fly up and out of the timepiece. In this tattoo the sands of time have run out and birds have broken out of the top chamber of the hourglass and flown away, perhaps signifying that everything ends but has new beginnings, time running out gives new life to the world. Expert lining and beautiful shading and highlighting make this tattoo a really clean, easy to read piece, the tree growing out of the sand telling that despite death nature will always find a way to survive and flourish.

 

14. Winged Hourglass

An hourglass with wings is an iconic pairing symbolizing that life is fleeting, that the sands of time will run out for everyone and that time flies by, speeding us towards an inevitable end. This is an interesting tattoo in that its placed across two hands, only making sense when the hands are together index fingers pointing to hourglass inscribe and feathers floating boldly above. Excellent shading on the wings make this a stand out piece and although it will fade with time and the ink will break up, so too will life fade when the timer runs out, and maybe that was the point to begin with.

 

13. Steam-Punk Hourglass

 

This hourglass tattoo of steam-punk influence appears like a jigsaw puzzle piece, the skin cut away revealing the inner workings of the body beneath flesh. The sand timer itself is positioned in the center of a web of gears, sprockets and clock parts entangled,possibly a hint that time is complex and made up of a wide variety of components each affecting the next like the beat of a butterfly wing echoing through infinity. A really well shaded tattoo that will withstand the test of time and forever remind the wearer that the sands of life are trickling away.

 

12. Broken Butterfly Timepiece

‘In time; forgive, forget’, this is a very delicate tattoo featuring a broken hourglass with beautiful fuchsia injected butterflies escaping, suggesting that all wounds heal with time and once one forgives and forgets the past their spirit can break free and transform out of time and into the future, out of the past comes a world of new possibilities. Fine line work and gorgeous bold purples, blues and dashes of deep pink make this a beautiful, flowing piece, well placed on pale canvas. A dainty tattoo draped in meaning, well executed, that captures a moment in time that will forever remind to forgive and forget.

 

11. Purified Sand Timer

Bold, brilliant line work defines this well shaded hourglass tattoo, featuring black and grey tone wings to symbolize time flying by, and a sword going through the timepiece, possibly symbolic of purification, to purify the sands of time falling through the hourglass is to live a pure life, true to one’s heart. Whatever way you interpret it, this tattoo is clean with nice highlighting, it’s well placed and will serve as a forever mark that time is falling away.

 

10. The Owl and the Hourglass

An hourglass, clutched by a sensationally shaded Owl in flight, is leaking sand turned to diamonds in the air, and broken symbolic of the constraints of time being broken, or maybe of time standing still. The Owl is representative of psychic awareness and secret knowledge and in myth is considered the keeper of souls passing from one plane to another, and owls are said to accompany these souls to the underworld. Perhaps then this inscribe is a reminder that time is running out, the sands of time escaping quicker than intended. Diamonds represent clarity, balance and eternal love so here they could mean the loss of love or clarity, or simply that having balance and clarity is important. Whatever the case, this is a gorgeous tattoo, inked absolutely beautifully. HERE ARE MORE OWL TATTOOS.

 

9. Timeless Hourglass

‘Dream as if you’ll live forever, Live as if you’ll die today’, one of my favorite quotes and a nice addition to this hourglass tattoo, a permanent reminder to cherish every moment because nobody knows when the timer will run out. Sparrows and roses border this sand-glass, the sparrows symbolic of freedom, undying love, loyalty and sacrifice, and the roses meaning faith, balance, compassion and timelessness. Together, they suggest one should be free and live in the moment, be faithful to and love our significant others, and a reminder that even though we can’t stop time from falling away, we can suspend it, if only for a moment, to truly appreciate love and life in its finest hours.

 

8. The Raven’s Hour

This is an interesting piece and a well designed, well placed chest tattoo that features a raven, claws wrapped around hourglass and torch, and with a key on a ribbon clutched in beak. The raven signifies intelligence and wisdom and according to legend the raven is a bird that can foresee the future and reveal omens. Ravens are also said to be keepers and communicators of mysteries and secrets so this could explain away the ribbon and key, and to carry a torch is to carry a cause, and then we have the hourglass with its blood red sands, altogether representing the wearer as someone who keeps many secrets, champions his cause and keeps time close, acknowledging it’s fragility, living free and wisely, for time is short and every last drop of it counts. A very well executed tattoo with bold red and orange flare keeping the wearers secrets forever intertwined, skin deep.

 

7. Hourglass in the Grip of Life and Death

This tattoo is simply stunning featuring perfect line work and awesome shading as it depicts life and death, with a frame of roses, in a lively, well highlighted flesh hand opposite it’s skeletal counterpart, with the hourglass in between to symbolize time as the great equalizer between earthly and spiritual worlds. A closer look reveals a pair of snakes wrapping the piece together, their fangs piercing the top of the timepiece producing venomous sands of time, falling and speeding towards the end of existence. Beautiful.

 

6.  Time Flies Hourglass Tattoo

This piece is unique, an interesting composition, and it’s all about time. ‘Tempus Fugit’ translates to ‘time flies’ and time flies right out of the clock and onto the wearers back, cogs and numbers scattered in every direction. The hourglass has a skull in the bottom chamber, a symbol of death signifying that life is short, and the sands of time count down until we are buried beneath. A very cool tattoo with bright splashes of scarlet that really make it pop. Well executed, extremely well placed and overall a bold inscribe, and a reminder of time or what little time is left forever at the wearers back.

 

5. Abstract Hourglass in Skull Frame

This is a crazy, swirly, abstract hourglass topped by a realistic skull with pins in it, symbolic of death coming to us all. This art work is lined with incredible precision and the shading and highlighting is beautiful. In abstract form some kind of spiraling liquid swirls within the hourglass, perhaps suggesting that time is murky and the future always unclear. The stretched bottom jaw of the skull cradles the bottom of the sand timer with a morbid grace, and overall this tattoo, inked perfectly, is a stellar piece that both artist and wearer can be proud of.

 

4. Hourglass and the Sands of Time

Ultra realistic hourglass tattoo with a hand holding the timepiece, lit at the bottom chamber by an orb of white light, catching the sand from within and sifting it through amazingly detailed, realistic fingers. Saturated in a jet black background this piece relies on fantastic highlighting to tell it’s tale, and it does so in true form, serving to symbolize time slipping away through fingers, the light possibly representing life force and the sand the life draining away. Whatever the meaning this is one awesome tattoo, well placed and very well injected. Gorgeous work.

 

3. Time in the Palm of the Hand

A well placed, realistic shoulder tattoo that features a hand gripping the top of the hourglass symbolizing one clutching to time as if to squeeze more out of it, but alas we have fleeting lives, represented here by the skull slowly being buried in the bottom chamber, and the bones scattered around to base of this timepiece. This tattoo has a very smooth, air brushed look with clean lines and beautiful shading. A chance to live and a chance to die, time allows us one of each, forever etched in proud skin.

 

2. Awesome Hourglass Back Tattoo

Awesome back piece featuring Alpha and Omega, a third eye, shrouded figures and a crimson skull, all tied together by the hourglass central to the work, it’s influence stretching throughout all the elements via a rose red ribbon that twists and turns around the flesh of the back. The hourglass itself is the source of the ribbon, the sands of time unwinding across the folds of the universe. This is a very well executed tattoo with sensational shading and color work, and will stand as a permanent memento that while the ripples of life are far reaching, life itself is a fleeting moment to be treasured before the sands run out.

1.Master of Time

Spectacular back tattoo with crisp, clean lines and gorgeous shading and highlighting that make this piece really something special to behold. This fantastic inscribe features a wizard playing puppet master for both marionette and hourglass, symbolic of manipulating life and time, a great feat, godlike even. Rays of sun shine over one shoulder where the puppet dances up some trippy looking stairs representing life, and in stark contrast darkening clouds form over the opposite shoulder where the puppet master controls an hourglass with a fetus in the top chamber and a skeletal fetus below, perhaps signifying death and that life and death are thinly separated. The melting clock in the center of the work serves as another reminder of time and therefore, life slipping away. Overall a very cool, pretty epic tattoo, brilliant in design and very effective in delivering the life is precious message. Wonderful.