It starts with nostalgia.
Meet David and Aiden; friends, colleagues, and neighbors. David is an award-winning designer. Aiden is an engineer and has been making gadgets from Nixie tubes for some time.
David has a Nixie clock on his desk. One day, he brought home a vintage radio and sat it near the clock. Looking at the two together, David realized a connection: both aroused similar moods of nostalgia. Both depended on displaying numbers; radio stations are defined by their numbers, and the Nixie tubes of the clock are made to display numbers. They just clicked.
That sparked an idea, and David started to sketch a unique clock-radio-speaker inspired by these great gadgets. He decided on black walnut, 360 brass, and IN-12 nixie tubes to evoke the nostalgic heritage.
David approached his friend Roger, an ex-Googler, who owns a custom wood studio (C6.design) in San Jose. Roger helped David craft a beautiful walnut speaker case, and Retio was born: a retro radio inspired Bluetooth speaker & radio. Beautiful, elegant, and genuine.
Each Retio is handcrafted locally, right here in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the makers of the best-selling Nixie clock on Amazon, we are dedicated to bringing the best quality and exceeding expectations with this new product’s launch. With Retio, we aim to bring nostalgic moments into your life, and cherish your best memories with the music and light!
Previous work: Omnixie Plus with IN-18 Nixie Tubes. eBay 100% Positive reviews.
Previous work: Client work designed and handcrafted by C6.design.
Core team
David, an award-winning designer, enthusiastic about minimalist design - he’s a fan of brands like Grovemade, Nomad, Allbirds, reMarkable, and Fellow.
Aiden, a Post-Doc from Berkeley National Lab, fascinated by Nixie technology and has been making gadgets from Nixie tubes for some time.
Roger, a wood expert and maker, who owns a high-end custom wood studio (C6.design) in San Jose
Zeyuan, a nixie clock guru, with 20+ years experience in creating electronic products combined with art. His Nixie tube clocks and HV power modules are super popular in the nixie community.
Jian, a Hi-Fi speaker expert, who has designed a series of Hi-Fi speakers for prestigious brands.