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Horology
October 2015
Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today 31
online: www.KCWToday.co.uk
Westward
Horologia
By Jonathan Macnabb
Visitors to the Science Museum
will be able to see a broad range
of familiar but less noticed items
when the refurbished Time Gallery
is open to the public towards the end
of October. The decision to move the
collection of the worshipful Company
of Clockmakers from its home in the
Guildhall in the city of London to South
Kensington was prompted by the ending
of their lease and the fact that this
remarkable collection can be examined in
appropriate surroundings by some of the
three million people who visit each year.
As much of the collection contains
a wonderfully decorative range of early
European images dating from the 1580s
there is a wide range of of interesting
precision watches which illustrate a story
around a £20,000 prize offered to create
a Sea-Clock which could determine
the longitude. Whilst it is shown at the
Royal Observatory at Greenwich that
Harrison made the original designs for
his successful clock, his early wooden
clocks have long been highlights of the
clockmakers’ collection and show how as
a 20 year old he had created a long case
clock with a movement made of lignum
vitae for which he designed his extremely
accurate grasshopper escapement.
The Harrisons’ gradual domination
of the collection was helped by the
acquisition of a complete and original
longcase clock by John’s younger brother
James and his final complete copy of his
successful timekeeper H5 with which he
fulfilled the requirements of the board of
longitude by providing a copy of H4.
Chronometers by other makers have
been donated by different firms over the
years and include some rare examples
by John Arnold, Thomas Earnshaw,
Barraud and several, more commercial,
examples with various forms of
refinement such as auxiliary temperature
compensation.
Of the individual clocks which stand
out the Samuel Watson astronomical
table clock from the 1690s has a dial
with a year calendar showing the phases
of the moon and sunrise sunset. Edward
East is represented by an early longcase
clock and his apprentice Thomas
Tompion by several watches. There is a
fine late period repeating clock by him
and a possible apprentice piece being
a pre-numbered longcase clock. There
are a number of watches by George
Graham. One of the most prominent
watches of the collection is a watch by
the first Master David Ramsey from
1625 which is a beautifully engraved 6
pointed star watch worn as a pendant.
This belongs to the earliest part of the
collection and includes amongst 600
watches some made before the balance
spring was invented; they were created
with extremely detailed decoration which
Harrison 5 and Harrison wooden clock
included cases made of rock crystal and
decorated with coloured enamel. This
compensated for the fact that they did
not keep very accurate time.
Other watches included are
timekeepers which developed into the
more accurate watches of the 20th
century. There is a small range of watches
by Breguet and several Tourbillon
watches by English and continental
makers.
The story of Smiths Industries and
the modern English wrist watch is well
documented. The collection also retains
many records from early members of the
company and has been a great research
source yielding in recent years an
extraordinary mathematical musical scale
devised by the Harrisons using chromatic
intervals based on the numerical
differences of vibration.
The Science Museum Time Gallery
traditionally displays the story of
timekeeping from the earliest times
and to the present day and outlines
the achievements of each stage of
development in producing the modern
timekeeper.
The move was made possible by the
generous support of DCMS/Wolfson
Museums & Galleries Improvement
Fund.
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
All photographs courtesy of The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers
Left:
C18th Engraved Skull watch
Right:
David Ramsey tiny star shaped watch.
1625.