Clockmaker

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A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches. Clockmakers must be able to read blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to fix and make clocks or watches. The trade requires fine motor coordination as clockmakers must frequently work on devices with small gears and fine machinery.^{[ citation needed ]}

Contents

• Origins and specialities
• Guilds
• Tools
• Other uses
• Historical clockmakers
• Clockmaking organizations
• See also
• References
• Sources
• External links

Originally, clockmakers were master craftsmen who designed and built clocks by hand. Since modern clockmakers are required to repair antique, handmade or one-of-a-kind clocks for which parts are not available, they must have some of the design and fabrication abilities of the original craftsmen. A qualified clockmaker can typically design and make a missing piece for a clock without access to the original component.

Clockmakers generally do not work on watches; the skills and tools required are different enough that watchmaking is a separate field, handled by another specialist, the watchmaker.

Origins and specialities

The earliest use of the term clokkemaker is said to date from 1390, about a century after the first mechanical clocks appeared. ^[1] From the beginning in the 15th century through the 17th century, clockmaking was considered the "leading edge", most technically advanced trade existing. Historically, the best clockmakers often also built scientific instruments, as for a long time they were the only craftsmen around trained in designing precision mechanical apparatus. In one example, the harmonica was invented by a young German clockmaker, which was then mass-produced by another clockmaker, Matthias Hohner.

Prior to 1800 clocks were entirely handmade, including all their parts, in a single shop under a master clockmaker. Examples of these complex movements can be seen in the many longcase clocks constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries. By the 19th century, clock parts were beginning to be made in small factories, but the skilled work of designing, assembling, and adjusting the clock was still done by clockmaking shops. By the 20th century, interchangeable parts and standardized designs allowed the entire clock to be assembled in factories, and clockmakers specialized in repair of clocks.

In Germany, Nuremberg and Augsburg were the early clockmaking centers, and the Black Forest came to specialize in wooden cuckoo clocks. ^[2]

Guilds

As the art of making clocks became more widespread and distinguished, guilds specifically for this trade emerged around the sixteenth century. One of the first guilds developed in London, England, known as the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers; the group formed after a small number of foreign-trained clockmakers spent time working in London. ^[3] A requirement of joining the guild was to practise their craft and gain as much experience as possible, along with joining one of many other trade guilds, such as the Blacksmiths, Stationers, or Drapers Company. There are many guilds where clockmakers meet to buy, sell and get clocks to repair from customers, the IWJG is one of the most prominent in the world.

Quality control and standards were imposed on clockmakers by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, a guild which licensed clockmakers for doing business. By the rise of consumerism in the late 18th century, clocks, especially pocket watches, became regarded as fashion accessories and were made in increasingly decorative styles. By 1796, the industry reached a high point with almost 200,000 clocks being produced annually in London. However, by the mid-19th century the industry had gone into steep decline from Swiss competition. ^[4] Switzerland established itself as a clockmaking center following the influx of Huguenot craftsmen, and in the 19th century the Swiss industry "gained worldwide supremacy in high-quality machine-made watches". The leading firm of the day was Patek Philippe founded by Antoni Patek of Warsaw and Adrien Philippe of Bern. ^[5]

Tools

Early clockmakers fashioned all the intricate parts and wheelwork of clocks by hand, using hand tools. They developed specialized tools to help them. ^[6]

• Balance Truing Caliper: This device was used in fashioning the wheels and gearwork of the clock, to make sure the wheel, particularly the balance wheel was balanced and circular. The pivots of the wheel were mounted in the caliper. An index arm was moved next to the edge and the wheel was spun to see if the edge was true.
• Die/Screw Plate: The die plate was used to cut threads on small screws. It had a number of threaded die holes of different sizes for making different threads. A piece of wire was inserted in a hole and turned to cut a thread on the end. Then a head would be formed on the other end of the wire to make a screw.
• File: Hardened steel files were used to shape the metal before it was used to make and fit wheels or plates. There were many variations of files.
• Rivet Extracting Pliers: Made of brass or steel, rivet extracting pliers were used to remove rivets from assorted clock parts.
• Jeweler’s Piercing Saw : The blade of the saw was released by undoing the thumbscrew adjacent to the handle. To start an interior cut, a hole was drilled and the blade was inserted and reattached to the saw. This device was popular among clockmakers to repair the ends of clock hands.
• Staking tool: An iron vertical plunger was used with an array of stakes for placing rollers and balanced wheels on staffs.
• Turns: The "turns" was a small bow-operated lathe used for furbishing parts and for working gear blanks to size. During use, the device was clamped in a vise and the worker held a cutting or polishing tool on a tee-shaped tool rest with one hand, and shifted the bow back and forth to spin the part.
• Cross Peen Riveting Hammer : The flat end of the tool was for general use, whereas the radiused peen end was used for flattening rivet heads. This tool was used for forging, riveting, striking steel, etc.

Other uses

Clockmaker is also the name of several movies. ^[7]

Deists often call God the "Clockmaker".^{[ who? ]} The Temple of the Great Clockmaker, in the novel The Case Of The Dead Certainty by Kel Richards, is a temple which represents deism.

The Clock Maker Theory and the watchmaker analogy describe by way of analogy religious, philosophical, and theological opinions about the existence of god(s) that have been expressed over the years.

During the 1800s and 1900s, clocks or watches were carried around as a form of flaunting social status. They were also a way of instilling a sense of time regulation for work in the budding industrial market.

In 2004, Jim Krueger wrote a comic book entitled The Clock Maker, published by German publisher Image Publishing, that focuses on the life of a clockmaker.

Artist Tony Troy creates the Illustration titled "The Clockmaker" in 2003 for his Broadway musical "The Fluteplayer's Song". ^[8]

Historical clockmakers

• Aaron Lufkin Dennison, United Kingdom
• Abraham Louis Breguet, France and Switzerland
• Achille Brocot, France
• Adolf Scheibe  [ de ], Germany
• Antide Janvier, France
• Antoine Cronier, Paris
• Benjamin Vulliamy, United Kingdom
• Charles Cabrier II, England
• Christiaan Huygens, Netherlands
• David Hare, Scottish philanthropist and pioneer of modern European Education in India
• David Rittenhouse, United States
• Eli Terry, United States
• Eugène Farcot, France
• Ferdinand Berthoud, France and Switzerland
• Franz Ketterer, Germany
• G Bernard Ramsdale, United Kingdom
• George Graham, United Kingdom
• Giovanni de Dondi, Italy
• Hans Düringer, Germany
• Humbertus Gallet, Switzerland
• J. B. Joyce & Company, United Kingdom
• James Ivory, United Kingdom
• Jean-Antoine Lépine, Franc
• Jens Olsen, Denmark
• Johann Andreas Klindworth, Germany
• Johann Baptist Beha, Germany
• John Alker, United Kingdom
• John Arnold, United Kingdom
• John Ellicott, United Kingdom
• John Harrison, United Kingdom
• John Tolson, United Kingdom
• John Whitehurst, United Kingdom
• Joost Bürgi, Switzerland
• Joseph Knibb, United Kingdom
• Konstantin Chaykin, Russia
• Lazar the Hilandarian, late 14th- and early 15th-century Serbia and Russia
• Martin Burgess, United Kingdom
• Michelangelo Sapiano, Malta
• Mikulas of Kadan
• Peter Henlein, Germany
• Peter Hill (1767-1820), African-American clockmaker. ^[9]
• Pierre Le Roy, France
• Rasmus Sørnes, Norway
• Richard Donisthorp, United Kingdom
• Richard of Wallingford, United Kingdom
• Salomon Coster, Netherlands
• Sigmund Riefler, Germany
• Simon Willard, United States
• Smith of Derby Group, United Kingdom
• Su Song, China
• Thomas Tompion, United Kingdom
• Thwaites & Reed, United Kingdom
• Tim Hunkin (made the London Zoo Clock and the Southwold Water Clock) United Kingdom ^[10]
• Timothy Mason, United Kingdom
• William Potts & Sons, United Kingdom

Clockmaking organizations

• AWCI
• British Horological Institute
• Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
• Petrodvorets watch factory
• Worshipful Company of Clockmakers

See also

• Chronometer watch
• Clockkeeper
• Horology
• List of clock manufacturers
• Marine chronometer
• National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
• Timepiece
• Watchmaker

Related Research Articles

A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or other type of bracelet, including metal bands, leather straps, or any other kind of bracelet. A pocket watch is designed for a person to carry in a pocket, often attached to a chain.

The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a Royal Charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. The company established a library and its museum in 1813, which is the oldest specific collection of clocks and watches worldwide. This is administered by the company's affiliated charity, the Clockmakers' Charity, and is presently housed on the second floor of London's Science Museum. The modern aims of the company and its museum are charitable and educational, in particular to promote and preserve clockmaking and watchmaking, which as of 2019 were added to the HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts.

A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand. Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must have fabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks.

Aaron Lufkin Dennison was an American watchmaker and businessman who founded a number of companies.

A mainspring is a spiral torsion spring of metal ribbon—commonly spring steel—used as a power source in mechanical watches, some clocks, and other clockwork mechanisms. Winding the timepiece, by turning a knob or key, stores energy in the mainspring by twisting the spiral tighter. The force of the mainspring then turns the clock's wheels as it unwinds, until the next winding is needed. The adjectives wind-up and spring-powered refer to mechanisms powered by mainsprings, which also include kitchen timers, metronomes, music boxes, wind-up toys and clockwork radios.

Ferdinand Berthoud, was a scientist and watchmaker. He became master watchmaker in Paris in 1753. Berthoud, who held the position of Horologist-Mechanic by appointment to the King and the Navy, left behind him an exceptionally broad body of work, in particular in the field of marine chronometers.

John Arnold was an English watchmaker and inventor.

A fusee is a cone-shaped pulley with a helical groove around it, wound with a cord or chain attached to the mainspring barrel of antique mechanical watches and clocks. It was used from the 15th century to the early 20th century to improve timekeeping by equalizing the uneven pull of the mainspring as it ran down. Gawaine Baillie stated of the fusee, "Perhaps no problem in mechanics has ever been solved so simply and so perfectly."

A lantern clock is a type of antique weight-driven wall clock, shaped like a lantern. They were the first type of clock widely used in private homes. They probably originated before 1500 but only became common after 1600;. They became obsolete in the 19th century.

The Clockmakers’ Museum in London, England, is believed to be the oldest collection specifically of clocks and watches in the world. The collection belongs to and is administered by the Clockmakers’ Charity, affiliated to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, founded in 1631 by Royal Charter. Since 2015 it has been housed in a gallery provided by the Science Museum in South Kensington, having formerly been located in the Guildhall complex in the City of London since 1874, where it first opened to the public. Admission is free.

Thomas Tompion, FRS (1639–1713) was an English clockmaker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the "Father of English Clockmaking". Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and watches in the world, and can command very high prices whenever outstanding examples appear at auction. A plaque commemorates the house he shared on Fleet Street in London with his equally famous pupil and successor George Graham.

The history of watches began in 16th-century Europe, where watches evolved from portable spring-driven clocks, which first appeared in the 15th century.

The American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute (AWCI) is a not-for-profit trade association based in the United States that is dedicated to the advancement of the modern watch industry, from which it receives a significant portion of its funding. While the AWCI is an American organization, it also has members throughout the world.

The British Horological Institute (BHI) is the representative body of the horological industry in the United Kingdom. It was founded by a group of clockmakers in 1858, and has its current premises at Upton Hall in Nottinghamshire, which includes a museum of clock history.

The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In early 2016, the Society appointed Dr Patricia Fara of Clare College, Cambridge as its new president, following the untimely death of its previous president Professor Lisa Jardine. The Chairman is Dr James Nye.

Benjamin Vulliamy, was a British clockmaker responsible for building the Regulator Clock, which, between 1780 and 1884, was the main timekeeper of the King's Observatory Kew and the official regulator of time in London. In 1773 Vulliamy had received a Royal Appointment as the King's Clockmaker.

Jean-Antoine Lépine was a French watchmaker. He contributed inventions which are still used in watchmaking today and was amongst the finest French watchmakers, who were contemporary world leaders in the field.

Joseph Windmills, was an eminent London watch- and clockmaker who, with his son Thomas, produced outstanding timepieces between 1671 and 1737.

Charles Gretton was an English clock and watchmaker during the golden age of English clockmaking.

References

Sources

• Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-01982-0-171-7.
• Shull, Thelma (1963). Victorian Antiques. Rutland, Vermont: C. E. Tuttle Co. OCLC   1079787454.

External links

Media related to Clockmakers at Wikimedia Commons

• American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute
• National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
• The British Horological Institute