TRADITION · PRECISION · PERFECTION - Erwin Sattler

The history of navigation and the
development of marine clocks.
During the Renaissance, mankind
came up with many sensible
solutions to many hard questions
plaguing the human spirit. One
main focus remained the exact
determination of one’s position at
open sea. Geographic latitude
was quite easy to determine by
measuring the vertical angle
between the sun or another fixed star and the horizon. The
necessary tools, such as sextants, were familiar to sailors.
Much more difficult was the determination of the equally
important longitude. At first, seamen estimated their positions
according to their logbook notes. This unfortunately resulted in
week-long odysseys and shipwrecks.
The only authentic really precise method for determining
longitude needed the help of mechanical board chronometers.
It was known at the time that correspondence between the
geographical longitude and the reference time at the last
harbor set by a board clock could determine position: the
location of the stars was determined by the date, the time, and
the longitude. If one knew the first two parameters, the
longitude was the result of the observed positions of the stars.
Marine Clocks
To calculate longitude with the
precision of one arced minute,
the ship’s clock may not deviate
more than one second per day.
This grand challenge led to the
creation of a competition with
attractive monetary prizes for the
precisely defined determination
of longitude. The English
parliament in its 1714 Longitude
Act called for a million-pound
sum as the reward for solving the problem, which raised a
healthy competition. The only true solution was presented by 66year-old
carpenter John Harrison in 1759: his standard-setting
invention went to sea from November 1761 until January 1762.
After a total of 81 days, the heavy H4 pocket watch, weighing
about one and a half kilograms, displayed a deviation of only
five seconds – and the first chronometer was born.
But that’s all in the past. Today, modern electronics and a
global satellite system make orientation possible to the meter.
Nevertheless, it is recommendable to carry an instrument
on board whose batteries do not run out and whose electronic
chips don’t break down: the Nautis and the Navis are
the Erwin Sattler manufactory’s conventionally ticking,
mechanical precision clocks.
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