Title: Time Machines: Amazing Facts About Historic Clocks and Watches
Every second ticks by, as relentless and precise as the cogs in a well-oiled timepiece. For centuries, humans have captivated themselves by crafting intricately designed clocks and watches to measure and marvel at the passage of time. From sundials scratched on ancient temple walls to pocket watches pocketed by dandies, timepieces have shaped the course of technology and society. In this article, we venture back in time to uncover some of the most amazing facts about historic clocks and watches.
1. The Sun Follower: Ancient Sundial
An indispensable invention of ancient civilizations was the sundial – a device that uses the sun’s shadow to tell the time. The Egyptians, as early as 1500 BC, used obelisks – narrow tapering monuments with square or circular tops – to cast shadows and measure time. But the most famous iteration of the sun follower is the Egyptian Clepsydra.
Image: Picture of a Clepsydra positioned against the backdrop of the rising sun, defining the time of day through the shadow it casts.
2. Masterpiece of Medieval Engineering: Salisbury Cathedral Clock
In 1386, Salisbury Cathedral in England came alive with the mesmerizing clang of the world’s oldest working clock bell. The astronomical clock is an architectural and engineering marvel of the medieval era, telling hours, minutes, and even the date. It was built by an anonymous monk who ensured it was 10 minutes slow to be considerate to the latecomers.
Image: The Salisbury Cathedral Clock, with intricate details and gears tucked away within an ornate wooden casing.
3. The Stranger on the Horse: The Curious Case of Town Squares Clocks
Imagine standing at the heart of a 16th-century market square, and watching as large hour hand covers the whole ground twice in one day, while the minute hand takes an entire week! For centuries, many town squares across Europe had such ‘foliot frame’ clocks with bulky hour hands. A fifteenth-century French innovation, the ‘candle clock’, used the melting of a wax candle to measure time.
Image: Depiction of a fictional town square clock with a large hour hand and elongated second hand.
4. Pocket Coordinates: The Patek Philippe Calibre 89
In 1989, Patek Philippe, a horological firm, unveiled the Calibre 89 – a magnificent, smaller version of the planetarium watch of 1939. Made to celebrate Patek Philippe’s 150th anniversary, it featured a celestial chart with a total of 7,250 stars, moon phases, and the positions of the planets.
Image: A close-up shot of a rotating globe that showcases the 7,250 stars on the Patek Philippe Calibre 89.
5. Ticking Art: Wornological Art
John Pound, an artist from London, uses the internal mechanisms of vintage clocks and watches to create astoundingly intricate artworks. He crafts miniature landscapes, flowers, animals, and even historical scenes in the tiny canvases of watch faces and behind minute gears and springs.
Image: Close-up of a Wornological Art piece, revealing the precise little world Pound creates inside the watch.
FAQs
Q1. What is a Patek Philippe Calibre 89?
The Patek Philippe Calibre 89, debuted in 1989, is a stunning remix of the 1939 planetarium watch. It is defined by its wintry night planetary dial, 7,250 handmade stars, a moon-phase complication, a 24-hour and second subdial, and the positions of the planets.
Q2. How did the ancient Egyptians tell time?
Before mechanical clocks, the ancient Egyptians used sundials as the primary means of timekeeping. They would place a rod or a piece of obelisk on the ground and use the shadow cast by the sun to mark the hours of the day.
Q3. Who created the Salisbury Cathedral clock and when?
The Salisbury Cathedral clock was created by an anonymous monk around the year 1386. It is the world’s oldest working clock, and a significant example of medieval engineering.
Through time, clocks and watches have not just measured minutes and seconds, but also elegantly showcased human endeavor and scientific triumphs. With each stroke of their hands and each tick of their gears, these time machines tell us stories, whisper secrets of the past, and continue to fascinate us by nudging the pulse of our modern, hyper-connected world.
