BelaRola Moving Sand Art

Not quite kinetic, more natural. I like the design of the base. Walnut & Red oak looks great to together!

I have another sand painting I ordered just a short time ago. It is beautiful and the colors are bright and NO visible bubbles. This review is about another one that I will be returning. It is larger and comes beautifully packaged. That's about it. The sand painting becomes one big blur of shifting sand. There is no "art" and the bubbles interfere with the sand moving freely. After it's settled down, there are bubbles at the top and they stay there. I'll be asking for my money back.

The perfect desktop diversion for when you are on hold or need a moment of zen.

I ordered the BelaRola Moving Sand Art piece as a potential housewarming gift for a friend who will soon be moving into a new apartment. My initial impression upon opening the package was that the box itself was very professional and carries the same aesthetic that the item itself has - calm, serene, soothing. When I opened the box I could tell the manufacturer must have put careful consideration into the packaging because everything was nicely separated by form-fitting foam. It seems as if it would be difficult for this item to break in transit - a bonus if you're planning to buy this as a gift and ship to the recipient.This type of art requires occasional physical interaction in order for it to be "used." That is, you must manually flip or rotate the sand-and-liquid-filled disk for it to create a new sand image, but I feel pretty confident most people know that. If I were keeping this to keep, I would place it on a floating shelf, high enough to not run the risk of being bumped into, but low enough to be able to flip the disk periodically. (Hmm, now that I've typed that I may just have to order one!)The quality of the piece is reasonably good in my opinion, though I have to agree with some reviews I've seen which mention the price compared to similar items of similar quality. This item is nice and would make a great gift, but it may be priced about $15-20 higher than is justified. The disk itself seems to be plexiglass and the frame of the disk is shiny plastic, but the base on which the disk rests stands out as noteworthy. The stand is several layers of wood (Brazillian Walnut and Beech according to the item description) and is quite lovely even when the disk has been removed from the base. Without the base, the whole item appears much "cheaper" and loses a lot of what makes it so aesthetically pleasing.

This sand glass is not as impressive and I would have imagined given the price. The stand is very cheaply made which causes the entire piece to be less than desirable.