diff --git a/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/data_format_picker.js b/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/data_format_picker.js
index 346ec7e2a482..fafc9e8d78d8 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/data_format_picker.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/data_format_picker.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import React, { Component, PropTypes } from 'react';
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import Select from 'react-select';
+import { durationOutputOptions, durationInputOptions } from './lib/durations';
+const durationFormatTest = /[pnumshdwMY]+,[pnumshdwMY]+/;
 
 class DataFormatPicker extends Component {
 
@@ -8,6 +10,17 @@ class DataFormatPicker extends Component {
     super(props);
     this.handleChange = this.handleChange.bind(this);
     this.handleCustomChange = this.handleCustomChange.bind(this);
+    let from = 'ms';
+    let to = 'ms';
+    let decimals = 2;
+    if (durationFormatTest.test(props.value)) {
+      [from, to, decimals] = props.value.split(',');
+    }
+    this.state = {
+      from,
+      to,
+      decimals
+    };
   }
 
   handleCustomChange() {
@@ -17,25 +30,94 @@ class DataFormatPicker extends Component {
   handleChange(value) {
     if (value.value === 'custom') {
       this.handleCustomChange();
+    } else if (value.value === 'duration') {
+      const { from, to, decimals } = this.state;
+      this.props.onChange({
+        value: `${from},${to},${decimals}`
+      });
     } else {
       this.props.onChange(value);
     }
   }
 
+  handleDurationChange(name) {
+    return (value) => {
+      if (name === 'decimals') {
+        value = this.decimals;
+      }
+      this.setState({
+        [name]: value.value
+      }, () => {
+        const { from, to, decimals } = this.state;
+        this.props.onChange({
+          value: `${from},${to},${decimals}`
+        });
+      });
+    };
+  }
+
   render() {
     const value = this.props.value || '';
     let defaultValue = value;
     if (!_.includes(['bytes', 'number', 'percent'], value)) {
       defaultValue = 'custom';
     }
+    if (durationFormatTest.test(value)) {
+      defaultValue = 'duration';
+    }
     const options = [
       { label: 'Bytes', value: 'bytes' },
       { label: 'Number', value: 'number' },
       { label: 'Percent', value: 'percent' },
+      { label: 'Duration', value: 'duration' },
       { label: 'Custom', value: 'custom' }
     ];
 
     let custom;
+    if (defaultValue === 'duration') {
+      const [from, to, decimals] = value.split(',');
+      return (
+        <div className="vis_editor__data_format_picker-container">
+          <div className="vis_editor__label">
+            {this.props.label}
+          </div>
+          <div className="vis_editor__item">
+            <Select
+              clearable={false}
+              value={defaultValue}
+              options={options}
+              onChange={this.handleChange}
+            />
+          </div>
+          <div className="vis_editor__label">From</div>
+          <div className="vis_editor__item">
+            <Select
+              clearable={false}
+              value={from}
+              options={durationInputOptions}
+              onChange={this.handleDurationChange('from')}
+            />
+          </div>
+          <div className="vis_editor__label">To</div>
+          <div className="vis_editor__item">
+            <Select
+              clearable={false}
+              value={to}
+              options={durationOutputOptions}
+              onChange={this.handleDurationChange('to')}
+            />
+          </div>
+          <div className="vis_editor__label">Decimal Places</div>
+          <input
+            className="vis_editor__input"
+            defaultValue={decimals}
+            ref={(el) => this.decimals = el}
+            onChange={this.handleDurationChange('decimals')}
+            type="text"
+          />
+        </div>
+      );
+    }
     if (defaultValue === 'custom') {
       custom = (
         <div className="vis_editor__data_format_picker-custom_row">
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/durations.js b/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/durations.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4e15125ea56a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/durations.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+export const durationOutputOptions = [
+  { label: 'milliseconds', value: 'ms' },
+  { label: 'seconds', value: 's' },
+  { label: 'minutes', value: 'm' },
+  { label: 'hours', value: 'h' },
+  { label: 'days', value: 'd' },
+  { label: 'weeks', value: 'w' },
+  { label: 'months', value: 'M' },
+  { label: 'years', value: 'Y' }
+];
+
+export const durationInputOptions = [
+  { label: 'picoseconds', value: 'ps' },
+  { label: 'nanoseconds', value: 'ns' },
+  { label: 'microseconds', value: 'us' },
+  ...durationOutputOptions
+];
+
diff --git a/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/tick_formatter.js b/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/tick_formatter.js
index dff3a7b6b20f..05a9d25342a4 100644
--- a/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/tick_formatter.js
+++ b/src/core_plugins/metrics/public/components/lib/tick_formatter.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import numeral from '@elastic/numeral';
-import _ from 'lodash';
 import handlebars from 'handlebars/dist/handlebars';
+import { durationInputOptions } from './durations';
+import { DurationFormat } from '../../../../kibana/common/field_formats/types/duration';
+import { capitalize, isNumber } from 'lodash';
 
 const formatLookup = {
   'bytes': '0.0b',
@@ -8,19 +10,37 @@ const formatLookup = {
   'percent': '0.[00]%'
 };
 
+const durationsLookup = durationInputOptions.reduce((acc, row) => {
+  acc[row.value] = row.label;
+  return acc;
+}, {});
+
 export default (format = '0,0.[00]', template) => {
   if (!template) template = '{{value}}';
   const render = handlebars.compile(template);
+  const durationFormatTest = /[pnumshdwMY]+,[pnumshdwMY]+,\d+/;
   return (val) => {
     const formatString = formatLookup[format] || format;
     let value;
-    if (!_.isNumber(val)) {
+    if (!isNumber(val)) {
       value = 0;
     } else {
-      try {
-        value = numeral(val).format(formatString);
-      } catch (e) {
-        value = val;
+      if (durationFormatTest.test(format)) {
+        const [from, to, decimals] = format.split(',');
+        const inputFormat = durationsLookup[from];
+        const outputFormat = `as${capitalize(durationsLookup[to])}`;
+        const formatter = new DurationFormat({
+          inputFormat,
+          outputFormat,
+          outputPrecision: decimals
+        });
+        value = formatter.convert(val, 'text');
+      } else {
+        try {
+          value = numeral(val).format(formatString);
+        } catch (e) {
+          value = val;
+        }
       }
     }
     try {