A R T I S T S   &   M E T H O D S   &   H O R O L O G I C A L    L E X I C O N

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Sample write ups' for bracket clocks, chronometers and barometrs (more to follow).
Symbols Explained (text)
Symbols Explained (pictures)
Portraits and names of horologists: 1) 2) 3)

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Act of Parliament clock.

English tavern clocks are often named an 'Act of Parliament clock' due to the tax imposed on clocks and watches in July 1797. The 'Act' was hand-written on a scroll and granted certain duties on clocks and watches to His Majesty (George III)

The Act was very difficult to enforce and led to a dramatic decline in the horological trades. After intense lobbying it was repealed, nine months after it had been enforced and at the end of the three quarter period on April 1798.

The name 'Act of Parliament clock' is a misnomer as the particular design of the tavern clocks had ceased to be made at the time the 'Act' was passed in 1797.

Source: English Dial clocks, R.E. Rose.

Accutron

Agate

Age of the moon

Alarm

Alloy

Amagnetic

Annual calendar (watch)

Anti-magnetic

Applied chapter (Applique)

Arabic numerals

Arbor.  A synonym of axle. A toothed wheel is fixed to the arbor, which is usually cylindrical, and both revolve.

 John Arnold  1736-1799

Art Deco

Asthmometer

Atm (atmosphere)

Atmos   (portraits)

Atmos (portraits) In 1928 a Neuchatel engineer called Jean-Leon Reutter built a clock driven quite literally by air. But it took the Jaeger-LeCoultre workshop a few more years to convert this idea into a technical form that could be patented. And to perfect it to such a degree that the Atmos practically achieved perpetual motion. In 1936 the Manufacture began production of the Atmos.

The technical principle is a beguiling one: inside a hermetically sealed capsule is a mixture of gas and liquid (ethyl chloride) which expands as the temperature rises and contracts as it falls, making the capsule move like a concertina. This motion constantly winds the mainspring, a variation in temperature of only one degree in the range between 15 and 30 degrees centigrade being sufficient for two days' operation.

To convert this small amount of energy into motion, everything inside the Atmos naturally has to work as smoothly and quietly as possible. The balance, for example, executes only two torsional oscillations per minute, which is 150 times slower that the pendulum in a conventional clock. So it's not surprising that 60 million Atmos clocks together consume no more energy that one 15-watt light bulb.

All its other parts, too, are not only of the highest precision, but also practically wear-free. An Atmos can therefore expect to enjoy a service life of a good 600 years, although with today's air pollution we regrettably have to recommend a through cleaning every 20 years or so.

Admirers of advanced technology, however, aren't the only ones who get their money's worth. Connoisseurs of elegant forms, precious materials and traditional craftsmanship, do so as well. Because every Atmos is still made entirely by hand; and with some models a single clock takes a whole month to produce. Not counting the five weeks of trial and adjustment that every Atmos has to undergo. Only then, are the Jaeger-LeCoultre master-watchmakers happy enough with the state of things to confirm it with a signature and allow another Atmos to leave the workshop. After which, many end up in the very best homes, because for decades now the world's most celebrated watch-making country has been presenting its distinguished guests with this masterpiece of Swiss artistry.

The Atmos has had the honour to be associated with great statesmen, royalty, and other renowned people including John F. Kennedy, Sir Winston Churchill, General Charles De Gaulle, and Charlie Chaplin.

#<10000 early mercury type
#10000-25000 early production run
#25000-300000 made in the 1950's and 1960's
#300000-550000 are the 1970's

More on Atmos: 1)
 

Atomic (clock)

Louis Benjamin Audemars  1782-1833

Jean-Baptiste Baillon III (d. 1772)

As one of the leading makers of his day, Jean-Baptiste Baillon III (d. 1772) only used the finest dials such as this one made by Antoine-Nicolas Martinière (1706-84) and cases supplied by the finest makers of his day such as Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain. Other case makers included Jean-Baptiste Osmond, Balthazar Lieutaud, the Caffieris, Vandernasse and Edmé Roy, while Chaillou executed some of his enamel work. Baillon was undoubtedly the most famous member of a long line of clockmakers and one of the most significant makers of the eighteenth century. His importance was largely due to his business acumen and the way in which he organized a vast and thriving manufactory on an unprecedented scale. His private factory in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which was managed from 1748-57 by Jean Jodin (1715-61) and continued until 1765 when Baillon closed it, was unique in the history of eighteenth century clockmaking. The renowned horologist, Ferdinand Berthoud was among many to be impressed by its scale and quality and in 1753 noted "His [Baillon's] house is the finest and richest Clock Shop. Diamonds are used not only to decorate his Watches, but even Clocks. He has made some whose cases were small gold boxes, decorated with diamond flowers imitating nature…His house in Saint-Germain is a kind of factory. It is full of Workmen continually labouring for him…for he alone makes a large proportion of the Clocks and Watches [of Paris]". From there he supplied the most illustrious clientele, not least the French and Spanish royal family, the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne as well as distinguished members of Court and the cream of Paris society.
Baillon's father, Jean-Baptiste II (d. 1757) a Parisian maître and his grandfather, Jean-Baptiste I from Rouen were both clockmakers as was his own son, Jean-Baptiste IV Baillon (b. 1752 d. circa 1773). Baillon himself was received as a maître-horloger in 1727. 1738 saw his first important appointment as Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Reine. He was then made Premier Valet de Chambre de la Reine sometime before 1748 and subsequently Premier Valet de Chambre and Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Dauphine to Marie-Antoinette, 1770. His Parisian addresses were appropriately Place Dauphine by 1738 and rue Dauphine after 1751.
Through his success, Jean-Baptiste Baillon amassed a huge fortune, valued at the time of his death, 8th April 1772 at 384,000 livres. His own collection of fine and decorative arts were auctioned on 16th June 1772, while his remaining stock, which was valued at 55,970 livres, was put up for sale on 23rd February 1773. The sale included 126 finished watches, totalling 31,174 livres and 127 finished watch movements at 8,732 livres. There were also 86 clocks, 20 clock movements, seven marquetry clock cases, one porcelain clock case and eight bronze cases of which seven had elephant figures totalling 14,618 livres. To give some idea of the extent of his enterprise the watch movements had reached 4320 and clock movements 3808 in number.
Today we can admire Baillon's work in some of the world's most prestigious collections including the Parisian Musées du Louvre, des Arts Décoratifs, National des Techniques, de Petit Palais and Jacquemart-André. Other examples can be found at Château de Versailles; Musée Paul Dupuy, Toulouse; the Residenz Bamberg; Neues Schloss Bayreuth; Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt; the Residenzmuseum Munich and Schleissheim Schloss. Further collections include the Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire Brussels; Patrimonio Nacional Spain; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; Newark Museum; Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore and Dalmeny House, South Queensferry.

Bailly (d. after 1818)

As one of the leading clockmakers during the Empire, Bailly was appointed Clockmaker to the Emperor Napoleon and was one of the main suppliers to the Imperial Garde-Meuble. He was also responsible for the maintenance of clocks at Chateau Compiegne and the Trianons, Versailles. Examples of his work can be seen at Compiegne, Fontainebleau and the Trianons as well as in notable French museums - the Louvre, Musee Marmottan, Musee de la Legion d'Honneur and the Garde-National, Paris. Pierre-Philippe Thomire, Claude Galle and others supplied very beautiful cases for his clocks.

Beefe Gilles de

Biographie (par André Thiry) : _ Gille 1 De Beefe, descendant d'une lignée d'habiles horlogers originaires de Befve-lez-Thimister,. is born the 4 octobre 1694. Possédant une grande maîtrise en horlogerie et en mécanique, en 1726, il s'installe à Liège. Le roi du Portugal, en 1733, lui commande deux horloges avec carillons pour le palais de Mafra. En compagnie de Jean Debefve (son cousin) qui remplaça son frère Nicolas (pour une raison à ce jour unknowne), ils se rendent dans cette ville pour y diriger les opérations de montage. Il fit également le carillon de la cathédrale de Lisbonne. Le 28 september 1739 revenu dans son pays et s'y étant perfectionné, Gille obtient du prince - évêque, George Louis de Berghes, " un octroi exclusif pour faire et vendre au Pays de Liège et Comté de Looz des montres à secondes, minutes, sans roues de champ " 2. En 1740, cette invention lui vaut le titre d'horloger de Son Altesse le Prince et en 1752, il est nommé horloger de la cathédrale Saint-Lambert. En 1754, il conclut une convention avec le chapitre de la cathédrale afin de construire une nouvelle horloge dotée d'un carillon. L'ouvrage terminé est si parfait qu'il reçoit une gratification.
Gille de Beefe est décédé le 16 september 1763; Il est donc impossible de lui attribuer l'horloge de l'église saint Servais à Maestricht.
P; Th. R. Mestrom dans son ouvrage "Limburgse klokken en hun Makers" Maastricht, 1997 page 82, annonce de beefe François 1718-1784, fils de Gille de Beefe comme le réalisateur de cette horloge.
La date de naissance (François) 4 december 1718, fils de Gille, correspond avec les données de cet historien.
François, maître carillonneur - horloger à l'âge de 49 ans va entreprendre la fabrication de l'horloge de l'église saint Servais à Maestricht situé à 30 km de Thimister.
Le 16/08/1745, il est surveillant et réparateur des horloges des tours de la ville. à cette époque, Maestricht faisait partie de la principauté de Liège.
Les pièces d'horlogerie que l'on attribue à François de Beefe à Maestricht sont postérieures à la date de sa rentrée du Portugal à Thimister le 30/09/1739.
A titre d'anecdote : la machine à carillonner de la cathédrale saint Lambert porte la mention "G. et N. de Beefe 1756". Lors de la révolution liégeoise en 1794, la cathédrale Saint Lambert fut détruite. Le carillon survécu et fut réinstallé dans le clocher de la cathédrale Saint Paul. Il refonctionna pour la première fois le 6 august 1813 à l'occasion du passage à Liège de l'impératrice Marie-Louise.
Certains éléments de cette biographie proviennent de messieurs Florent Pholien (†) et Pierre Guérin.

Ferdinand  Berthoud    1)
  
The quest for accurate timekeeping owes much to his numerous inventions, innovations and writings.
He was born in Plancemont, Switzerland, the son of an architect and judiciary. In 1741 he
began a three year apprenticeship as a clockmaker under his brother, Jean-Henri. He
subsequently went to Paris, where it is thought he studied under the eminent clockmaker,
Julien Le Roy (1686-1759). Even before he attained his mastership in 1754 he had begun
to establish great repute. In 1752 Berthoud, aged 25 was invited to present to the Académie des Sciences a clock he had made which had a perpetual calendar and also indicated mean and solar time. It was received with great acclaim. He made his first marine chronometer in 1754 (sent for trial in 1761) and in 1764 was appointed "Horloger Mécanicien de sa Majesté et de la Marine ayant l'inspection de la construction des horloges Marines". 
The position was of considerable importance especially at a time when the race to find longitude (and thus a means of measuring time accurately at sea) was the social and political talk of Europe. 
From 1766 Berthoud was put in charge of designing all timepieces used on board
the French royal fleet. In the same year he was made a member of the Royal Society
London and was later appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.
Berthoud not only made numerous complex and quality pieces but also wrote over 4000
pages on the subject. He was a great innovator whose most notable inventions included a
bimetallic compensating balance and a detent escapement. His clocks and watches have
rightly been described at the cutting edge of horological invention. His work is prized by
major private collectors and museum curators including those at the Metropolitan Museum
and Frick Collection, New York and at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers and Mobilier
National, Paris. The Wallace Collection, London; the National Museum, Stockholm and
the Mathematische Physikalische Salon, Dresden also represent his oeuvre.
 

Ferdinand Berthoud   Paris.  2)

1729: born in Le Locle (Switzerland)
1745: Went to Paris to Julien LE ROY
1754: Master
1771: Horloger de la marine
1807: died

Devised the spring detent probably independently of EARNSHAW.
1759: Published: 'L'Art de régler les pendules,' .
1763: Published: 'Essai sur l'Horlogerie,'
1773: Published: 'Traité des Horloges Marines,
1773: Published: Éclaircissements sur l'Invention des Horloges Marines? .
1775: Published: 'Les Longitudes par la mesure du Temps,'
1787: Published: 'Histoire de la Mesure du Temps,'
1792: Published: 'Traité des Montres à Longitudes,'
1797: Published: 'Suite du Traité des Montres à Longitudes,'
1802: Published: 'Histoire de la mesure du Temps,'
1807: Published: 'Supplément au Traité des Montres à Longitudes,'

Clockmaker to the King and the Marine.
Membre de l'Institute F.R.S. London.
Made first chronometer 1754, sent for trial 1761.

Ferdinand Berthoud   Paris.  3)

More about Berthoud:
Ferdinand Berthoud, Julien le Roy and Breguet are the three most famous names in French clockmaking.
Berthoud was born at Plancement, commune de Couvet, caton de Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on 19 March 1727. His father, an architect and magistrate of the Val de Travers, had at first destined him for an ecclesiastical career, but as at a very early age he showed interest in mechanical matters, he decided to have him taught clockmaking. At the age of 14 Ferdinand was apprenticed to his brother Jean Henri.
When he was 19, he borrowed 200 livres to go to Paris, where another brother, Jean-Jaques, a designer, was already established. It is thought that he worked for Julien Le Roy for some time, before settings up his own workshop in the rue du Harley, not far from the house in which the latter was still working. At this time he made the acquaintance of Piere Le Roy, who, throughout his career, was his only rival.

In 1752 he presented to the Academy of Science an equation watch with a perpetual calendar.

His knowledge of mathematics and physics, together with his ability to impress the authorities with his capacities, enabled him in 1764 to obtain the office of "Horloger de la Marine Royale" (Clockmaker toe the Royal Navy), with an annual pension of 3000 livres, which ensured, with his other activities, An average income of 7,500 livres a year. By order of the King, he went twice to England, with Camus and Lalande, to examine John Harrison's marine clocks. Although he was able to study clocks number 1, 2, and 3 Harrison refused to show him clock number 4. After having learnt some English,, during his second journey, in 1766, Berthoud obtained from Thomas Mudge, who, with Kendall and Matthews, belonged to the committee responsible for examining Harrison's watch number 4, which allowed him to enlarge his own researches. He then undertook the construction of his own marine clocks 6 and 8, which were taken to Rochefort, and handed over on 3 November 1768 to Eveux de Fleurieu, commanding the frigate Isis, who, assisted by the astronomer Pingré, was to test them during a voyage on he high seas.

The precision instruments that he invented enabled Berthoud to perfect a rigorous experimental technique, adopted bu all his successors, and particularly by his nephew Pierre Louis Berthoud.

He can be criticised for having sought to appropriate the important discoveries concerning marine watches made by Pierre le Roy, his celebrated rival. However, it would be unfair to think that Ferdinand Berthoud's considerable quantity of work did not contribute to the progress of chronometry.
We owe to him many experimental  marine watches, most of which, purchased by the Government, are preserved in the Musée National des Techniques (C.N.A.M.), Paris. They include watches and clockes with equation of time, seconds watches, and superb astronomical longcase clocks fitted with compensated pendulums which he invented. All the timepieces that he made show his great dexterity, and the exceptional quality of his execution.

He left many documents on clockmaking, printed at State expense, in which his experiments and intentions are described in great detail. From a small pamphlet, published in 1759 under title L'art de coduire et r´´gler lres pendules et les montres à l'usage de cuex qui n'ont aucune connaissance d'horogerie, which went into six editions between 1759 and 1836, without counting Henri Robert's edition of 1841 and the numerous translations into different languages, to his Supplement au traité des horloges marines...published in the year of his death 1807, the written work of Ferdinand Berthoud covers more than 400 pages, illustrated by over 120 plates, engraved from drawings by the author.
He died on 20 June 1807, in his property at Groslay, near Montmorency, leaving no children. He married twice, firstly Mademoiselle Chati of Cean, and then Mademoiselle Dumoustier of Saint Quentin.

Ferdinand Berthoud was appointed, in succession, Clockmaker to the Navy, Member of the Institute of France, Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur. The State paid him an annual pension of 3000 livres until the day of his death. His name figures among those of great men engraved on the facade of the Palace of Industry.

His chief pupils were Jacques and Vincent Martin, and particularly his nephew Pierre Louis Berthoud.

Pierre Louis Berthoud

Pierre-Louis Berthoud (1754-1813), known as Louis was a very important clockmaker and an ingenious scientist. His father, Pierre was a clockmaker but Louis trained under his highly esteemed uncle, Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807) and later succeeded Ferdinand’s business. Like his uncle, Louis was particularly interested in precision horology specialising in making regulators, over 150 chronometers as well as clocks and watches. He was appointed as clockmaker to the Observatoire and to the Bureau de Longitude. He won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition, l’an X (1800/1) and wrote ‘Entretiens sur l’horlogerie”.   

Jean Simon Bourdier

JEAN-SIMON BOURDIER (c. 1760-1839)
One of the most innovative clockmakers of his time, Jean-Simon Bourdier became a maitre horloger in Paris on 22 September 1787. He is recorded as working in the rue des Precheurs in 1787, quai de 1'Horloge du Palais circa 1790, rue Mazarine in 1801, rue Saint-Saveur in 1812 and rue Saint-Denis in 1830. He gained a silver medal in the 1806 and 1879 produits de I'industrie exhibitions.
He is known to have worked with the ebenistes Lieutaud and Riesener as well as the bronziers Galle, Thomire and Remond. his dials were painted by the emailleurs Dubuisson and Coteau. His clocks were also sold by the dealers Daguerre -and Lignereux and Juilliot.

Abraham Louis Breguet       1754-1823  Breguet

1747: born at Neuchatel, 1823: died

Started in Paris 1776, but watch No. 1 is of 1787. Breguet attracted the attention of Louis XV and set up in Paris on the quai de l'Horloge. He became a member of the Academy des Science. Very soon Kings, Princes and European celebrities were buying his watches. Breguet made the first "perfect&hibar; automatic watch, capable of running for eight years without being overhauled and without going slow. This watch still keeps perfect time today. Breguet's inventions meant that it was possible from then on to make watches accurate to within a tenth of a second. Thanks to him, considerable progress was made in marine navigation, astronomy and physics, and his contemporaries began to look at the time in the way you look at a jewel. Breguet signed his watches in the way that Boulle signed his furniture and Rembrandt his paintings.
The extra-flat watch was one of Breguet's inventions. The perpetual or automatic watch, the perfecting of so-called "multiple complication" watches, the balance spring, were all Breguet. The "tact" watch, the constant-force escapement and the tourbillon watch were also by him. It would take hours to list all his inventions. Many watches bearing his name were made outside and finished in his workshop. There are innumerable watches being his name in forgery. He made many improvements, including the parachute ca.1790, and the tourbillon in 1801, also many self-winding watches. He was the first to make lever escapement with lift partly on the pallets and partly on the teeth. The overcoil balance spring is known by his name. Draw was absent from early levers, but used after 1814.

Most important collections contain genuine and forged watches. The late Sir David Salomons had a collection of 102 watches and 6 clocks by Breguet.

Subscription watches: British Museum, London, Guildhall Museum. British Science Museum, S. Kensington

Striking cylinder watch and musical. repetition. cylinder watch: British Science Museum.S. Kensington

Tourbillon watches: Guildhall Museum and Ilbert collection. The latter, of 1808, was the first made.

Verge watch: Dennison collection.

Pedometer winding repetition watch No. 27 (1791), several watches and pedometer: Ilbert collection,

Regulators: Buckingham Palace and Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, Paris
 

Pierre A. Caron  1732-1799

James Ferguson Cole      1799-1880

Salomon Coster.

Salomon Coster, a famous Dutch maker born in Haarlem before 1623, moved to The Hague shortly after his marriage in 1643. Like several Haarlem clockmakers, he was an Anabaptist. In 1646 Pieter Visbagh was apprenticed to him for six years, and in 1657 Christiaan Reijnaert for ten years. In the same year Christiaan Huygens allowed him ('met privilege') to make and sell pendulum clocks. In this year John Fromanteel came from London and worked with Coster for at least eight months, but probably much longer, followed by Nicolas Hanet from Paris in 1658. Salomon Coster died suddenly in December of 1659 and the following year the shop was taken over from Coster’s widow by Pieter Visbagh.
Ref: Dr. R. Plomp, Spring driven Dutch pendulum clocks 1657-1710.

Joseph Coteau

JOSEPH COTEAU (1740-1801) Joseph Coteau was born in 1740, probably in Geneva and died in Paris on 21 January 1801. He became maitre-pintre-emailleur at the Academic de Saint-Luc in Geneva on 6 November 1766 and was installed in rue Poupee, Paris by 1772. Coteau is celebrated not only for his skill in decorating enamelled dials but also as a skilled miniaturist. He discovered a new method for fixing raised gold on porcelain and worked closely with the Sevres manufactory in developing their so-called "jewelled" porcelain.

Edward John Dent    1790-1853

Dubuisson

Gobin Etienne, (b. 1731 d. after 1815) known as Dubuisson, who with Coteau was the finest of his trade. After living in Luneville and Strasbourg, Dubuisson worked at Chantilly. In 1756 he was employed at Sevres as a flower painter, specialising in enamelling watch cases and clock dials.

John Ellicot  1706-1772

Josiah Emery  1725-1797

Thomas Earnshaw  1749-1829

Equation of Time          

Along with the transition from telling time with sundials to telling time with clocks, people realized that the time from one noon to the next was not constant. Part of the jargon invented to deal with the situation is "sun time", the time a sundial would tell, and "mean time", the time an accurate clock would tell. The difference between the two is an error that has come to be called the "Equation of Time". It is usually described as a table, plotted as the error vs. the Sun's declination, or plotted a graph of error vs. date:



See full equation table.  
See today's equation.    
Equation Table by Claude Raillard a Paris 1718. (master 1691, d.1762)
 

Admiral Fitzroy 1805-1865


1) ADMIRAL ROBERT FITZROY     (By Charles Edwin inc.)

Robert Fitzroy, son of Lord Charles, was born at Ampton Hall, Suffolk, in 1805 and entered the Navy at the age of 12. During his long career, he was for many years Captain of the HMS Beagle which achieved fame as a result of Charles Darwin's expeditions. He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral, was elected Member of Parliament for Durham in 1841, and appointed Governor of New Zealand in 1843.
At his retirement from active service in 1850, he turned his attention to the science of meteorology. Among his considerable accomplishments, he induced the Times to print weather information on a daily basis and the Board of Trade to supply many coastal villages with barometers. He designed a vastly improved marine barometer.
In 1862 he published his Weather Book which summarized his extensive and immensely important work on meteorology.

To the barometer collector, he is most remembered for consolidating weather information and presenting his now classic Remarks, which distinguish the barometer carrying his name, that interpret the meaning of rising or falling mercury. He coined a useful phrase which is as good today as it was then:
"Long foretold - Long Last    Short notice - Soon Past"

Admiral Fitzroy's Barometers were not designed by and were probably never seen by Admiral Fitzroy who took his own life in 1865 before the earliest known Fitzroys were made.


ADMIRAL FITZROY'S BAROMETER

By far the best known type of barometer ever produced was called Admiral Fitzroy's Barometer and was the first inexpensive and serviceable barometer made by mass-production methods. The earliest Fitzroys were made in the late 1860s, so it is probable that Fitzroy himself, who died by his own hand in 1865, never saw one.

Common to these large late-19th century instruments is the degree of detailed information concerning not only the rise and fall of pressure, but of associated conditions of temperature and direction of the wind. His remarks, carried on most barometers, emphasize the fact that the state of the air, as shown by the barometer, tells coming rather than present weather conditions.

Typical ancillary instruments include a Fahrenheit thermometer and a storm glass. Storm glasses have been known since the 17th century but came into general use with the Fitzroy barometer. Clamped onto the lower left, these are glass cylinders with brass caps. The contents are a mixture of camphor, ammonia, alcohol, potassium nitrate, and water, which reacts to air pressure, wind direction, and electrical charge of the air.


Typical readings and the predicted weather:
Clear liquid . . . . Good, fine weather
Crystals at bottom . . . . Frost in winter
Turbid liquid (substance rising) . . Rain
Turbid liquid with crystals. . . . Thunder
Large crystals. . . . Close weather, cloudy skies, snow
Chains of crystals at the top . . . . Windy weather
Substance lies to one side . . . . Storm or wind from other direction

Copyright 1996-1999 © by Charles Edwin Inc.
 

2) About  ADMIRAL FITZROY

Admiral Robert Fitzroy was one of the first to attempt a scientific weather forecast, introducing the first daily weather forecasts which were published in The Times in 1860. He began his career in the navy and was famous for choosing Charles Darwin as a companion during the voyage on the Beagle. As a sailor, Fitzroy had always been aware of the importance of forecasting the weather.

Once he had completed his famous journey, he took up the newly created post of Head of Meteorology at the Board of Trade (the Met Office) and began to collate the information necessary to predict the weather. Using the newly invented electric telegraph, Fitzroy managed to receive data quickly enough to make a forecast viable.

Fitzroy's name was associated with several different types of barometers, though whether he could be called the inventor of all of them is questionable.

One version of the barometer of which he was responsible for the designing and distribution, was used by sailors prior to sailing. Fitzroy advocated placing a barometer at every port so that seamen could read them before embarking on their journeys. Decisions on whether to sail or not were able to be made based on the level of the mercury within the instrument, saving many lives.

The Fitzroy barometers were enormously popular, both because of their ease of use and their association with the highly respected Admiral Fitzroy. This interest continued into the twentieth century.

Some of the components added onto the Fitzroy Barometers included bottle tubes, storm glasses, thermometers and Fitzroy's instructions for interpreting the results.

Unfortunately Admiral Robert Fitzroy never felt completely satisfied by his achievements. Though he had saved many lives by his advances in forecasting the weather, he had a conflict with his conscience and his religious beliefs. This he never resolved in life and at the age of sixty he committed suicide by cutting his throat.

Picture of Fitzroy barometer
 

Charles Frodsham     1810-1871

William Frodsham      1778-1850

Georg Graham  1673-1751

Gregorian calendar    ( calendrier grégorien )

The calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to reform the Julian calendar. The majority of countries refer to the Gregorian calendar. It has 365¼ days. A non-leap year has 7 months each with 31 days, 4 months with 30 days, and 1 month with 28 days (29 days in a leap year). It is a solar calendar, based on the movement of the sun.

Under the Julian calendar, the year was 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the solar year. By 1582 the accumulated difference came to 10 days. The Gregorian calendar introduced the following system: each year that can be divided by four is a leap year.
Century years are leap years only if they are evenly divisible by four hundred. Hence 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years whereas 2000 was.

1582: On Friday October 15th (which came after Thursday October 4th in the Julian Calendar), Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and the Catholic Dutch provinces implemented the Gregorian Calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII.

1584: Austria, Germany and Catholic Switzerland.

1586: Poland.

1587: Hungary.

1610: Prussia.

1648: Alsace (Strasbourg in 1682 following its annexation by France).

1700: Germany, Switzerland, the Protestant Dutch provinces, Denmark and Norway.

1752: Adopted by England, its American colonies, and Sweden.

1753: Protestant Switzerland (the last canton being Grisons, in 1811).

1873: Japan replaced the Chinese lunar calendar with the Gregorian calendar.

1912: China took the Gregorian calendar as its official calendar

1916: Bulgaria.

1923: Greece, USSR (the October Revolution of 1917, which marked the start of the Russian Revolution, was in November of the Gregorian Calendar).

1919: Rumania and Yugoslavia.

1926: Turkey.

The monasteries of Mount Athos (Macedonia) still use the Julian Calendar.

 

Henry Grandjean  1774-1845

Hamilton Watches  1892 Brief History of the Hamilton Watch Company.
 
Although the Hamilton Watch Company opened in December of 1892, they spent over a year "gearing up" without producing a watch. Their start of production was March of 1894. The only watches they produced were pocket watches, most notably their reliable railroad watches.

In 1908, they started making ladies pendant watches which were much smaller than the large pocket watches produced until then. Ladies wristwatches were introduced after World War I. They were a re styling of the pendant watches, and had cloth or ribbon straps.

Men's wristwatches were considered effeminent prior to the 1920's. Hamilton introduced their first men's "strap watch" on November 11, 1922. They had to not only market the watch, but they had to market the "idea" of a strap or wrist watch. Finally, their use in hot summers when vests were not worn, the association with the war, explorers, and rugged outdoor activities all helped the wristwatch gain acceptance. Hamilton was out in front selling the idea, and aimed much of their promotional materials at merchants--how to sell the "idea."

In the late twenties, they introduced some stylish watches like the "Cushion," "Square," and the "Tonneau." Their art deco designs of the 1930's were accompanied with the practice of naming all of the watches. Many people think the 1930's designs were the golden age of Hamilton's design and production.

World War II saw the halt of consumer production to concentrate on military watches. Following the war, they sold pre-war designs. Hamilton had introduced new designs in the early 1950's. By the mid 50's, their styling failed to capture the American public.

In 1957, they introduced the world's first electric watch--the Ventura. With a radical asymmetric design to accompany the radical technology, it became Hamilton's best ever selling gold watch. Many think that the superb manual movements of the 1930's through the 1950's, and the innovative electric watch, make Hamilton the most influential watch company of the century.

They are still producing watches today, but the brand name is now owned by the Swatch Group. They last produced watches under their own original company in 1969.

hamilton watches dates

John Harrison  1693-1776

Jaques Frederic Houriet  1743-1830

Pierre Frederic Ingold  1787-1878

Temporal hours.

 Japanese traditional timekeeping practices (profoundly influenced by chinese horometry) required the use of unequal temporal hours: six daytime units from local sunrise to local sunset, and six night time units from sunset to sunrise. As such, Japanese timekeepers varied with the seasons; the daylight hours were longer in summer and shorter in winter, and vice versa. European mechanical clocks were by contrast set up to tell equal hours that did not vary with the seasons.

Most Japanese clocks were driven by weights; however, the Japanese were also aware of, and occasionally made, clocks that ran from springs. Like the Western lantern clocks that inspired their design, the weight driven clocks were often held up by specially built tables or shelves that allowed the weights to drop beneath them. Spring driven Japanese clocks were made for portability; the smallest were the size of large watches, and carried by their owners in inro pouches.

	Daily time to rewind and set clocks (with a sundial)   Midday.
Sunrise.		Sunset.
	Midnight. Each hour (toki) was divided into 10 'bu'.

The traditional Japanese time system.

The typical clock had six numbered hours from 9 to 4, which counted backwards from noon until midnight; the hour numbers 1 through 3 were not used in Japan for religious reasons, because these numbers of strokes were used by Buddhists to call to prayer. The count ran backwards because the earliest Japanese artificial timekeepers used the burning of incense to count down the time. Dawn and dusk were therefore both marked as the sixth hour in the Japanese timekeeping system.

In addition to the numbered temporal hours, each hour was assigned a sign from the Japanese zodiac.

Starting at dawn, the six daytime hours were:

From dusk, the six nighttime hours were:

The Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) marked the beginning of the rapid modernization of Japan as it strove to "catch up" to the Western powers which it had fallen behind in technological and social development. Public education was instituted in 1872, as was the western Gregorian solar* calendar with its 'equal hours' system of timekeeping (1 jan. 1873). It sparked a renewed interest in time keeping.

Japan's first mass production clock factory, Kingensha, was established in 1875. In 1892, Kintaro Hatt