They were probably made by the local gunsmiths or locksmiths.Īfter 1630, a weight-driven lantern clock became popular and was used at home by the very wealthy. The introduction of a minute hand came about because of this increased accuracy.īy 1670, the introduction of the anchor escapement had decreased the time variance to as little as a few seconds per week.īy the 1600’s, small domestic clocks started to appear. Huygens invention allowed clocks to be accurate to as little as three minutes loss or gain per day instead of the previous quarter to half an hour per day. Up to speed-up the clock movement and down to slow-down the clock, thus the terms speed-up and slow-down. Regulating the speed of the movement was done by simply raising or lowering the pendulum bob. In 1656 Christian Huygens added a pendulum to a clock mechanism of his own design In 1640 Galileo designed a clock mechanism incorporating the swing of a pendulum, but he died before building his clock design. He later found this rate of motion depended upon the length of the chain or pendulum. He studied its swing and discovered that each swing was equal and had a natural rate of motion. In 1580 the Astronomer Galileo observed a swinging lamp suspended by a long chain from a cathedral ceiling. These early clocks were very large and were made of heavy iron frames and gears forged by local blacksmiths. It was over 100 years before visible dials and hands were added. These mechanical devices were probably placed in the church belfry in order to make use of the existing church bell. They did not have dials or hands and only struck bells on the hour. Probably by monks from central Europe, and were placed within the church. The very first early mechanical clocks, which didn’t have pendulums, were developed in the last half of the thirteenth century. The development of atomic clocks, accurate to a billionth of a second, seem to reflect modern society’s near-obsession with youth, age and the passage of time. World views of entire cultures were influenced by the type of clocks they used. This revolutionary device soon synchronized the rhythms of entire cities. In medieval times, the regulation of monastic calls to prayer was accomplished by means of mechanical tower clocks. Other early and more precise timekeeping devices also include the hourglass, indexed candles that burned at a fixed rate, and water powered devices. The early Egyptians originated the division of each day into two measurable parts, using the position of an obelisks shadow to mark high noon. In those days however, the actual hour of any particular day was not important.Īs early civilizations grew and became more complex in their needs for order and governance a more precise measure of time was required. The simple alarm clock owes its existence to more than 6,000 years of thinking about time and tinkering with devices to accurately mark its passing.Ī general knowledge of time division was relevant to the earliest of farmersįarmers sectioned quadrants of time into broad periods of seasons for planting, growing and harvesting.
Mans’ interest in antique clocks is growing and man has always recognized the passing of time and has tried to measure and record that passing.
The History of American Antique Clocks and Their Makers.
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