Given that this is a book about technology, we would expect there to be a detailed explanation of the machine which allows time travel. Technology and the aforementioned machine are obviously really important to the plot and themes of the novel. However, the Time Traveller does not ever describe the time machine, nor any of the technology he may see in the future. Instead, this is a novel about the effect technology has had on the people of the world, and in the story.

What little we know about the appearance and workings of the time machine comes from the narrator's description of the tiny model which appears in chapter 1.

It is described as being delicately made, with a glittering metallic framework. Parts of it seem to be transparent, perhaps crystal, and it has two small white levers. There is also a seat for the Time Traveller.

"The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering, metallic framework, scarcely larger than a clock, and very delicately made..."