frosted (or super dark)always says "your hiding something" to me
Sometimes hiding stuff is a good thing, it adds to the flexibility of design.
Sure, for some things it's appropriate to have the guts on display... but for a clock? If you're not after a retro look, then you'd not really want the LED holders on display, no matter how cool we think they are.
I'm watching this thread intently, purely from a design aspect... and LED's on display just won't do for me 