Clocks
In the first instance clocks were made to be placed prominently in outdoor positions to tell the time to the people at large. In due course, smaller examples were made for use in the home, and eventually a further reduction in size led to the introduction of the personal pocket-watch.
The earliest clocks with movements driven by the power from a falling weight had neither hands nor dial, and marked the hours by striking a bell. Eventually, a face to show the hours was added, and at a later date the hours were divided into minutes and a further hand affixed to indicate them. These clocks were heavy iron-framed affairs, usually placed high inside a tower within which the weight had a good distance to travel before it needed rewinding.
Regulation to prevent the weight crashing down from top to bottom of the tower was achieved by a device known as a Foliot balance. In this, the final wheel in the train was set on a horizontal spindle. The wheel, called the crown wheel because of its appearance, was cut with comparatively long angled teeth into which fitted alternately two flat plates (or pallets) on an upright spindle. At the top of this latter spindle was a shaped arm with adjustable weights at either end for regulating the speed of the clock. For smaller indoor clocks a wheel replaced the swinging arm, and making the weight lighter or heavier controlled the speed.
Early in the 1500's appeared the first clocks using a coiled spring instead of a weight. The fact that the power exerted by a spring grows less as it uncoils was the subject of much research, and a device known as the fusee was the successful outcome. It takes the form of a cone-shaped drum with grooves on to which the gut or chain from the mainspring drum is wound. As the spring is uncoiled it reaches the larger circumference and this equalizes the weakened pull. The use of springs and fusees encouraged the making of portable clocks and these, first made in Germany, soon became popular. Their time keeping, like that of all other clocks, was erratic and the sundial remained an essential standby.
The Italian astronomer, Galileo, discovered the important property of the pendulum, but its application to clock making was due to a Dutchman, Christiaan Huygens. By November 1658 Johannes Fromanteel, a clockmaker of Dutch origin who lived and worked in London, was advertising that he had for sale 'Clocks that go exact and keep equaller time than any now made without this Regulator'. This was a true statement, but throughout the 1700's improvements of one kind and another led to greater accuracy and reliability. The names of Tompion, Graham, Quare, and many others attained a well-deserved fame, and specimens of their workmanship are sought eagerly today.
Extremely accurate time-keeping would make it possible for a ship to find its exact position at sea, and the government offered big rewards for this purpose. Harrison, Mudge and Arnold are the three most famous names in this connexion, and their painstaking labours did much to ensure the supremacy of British shipping and the worldwide fame of British clock making.
The earliest clocks were almost certainly made by blacksmiths; they had heavy iron frames and they show few signs of the small-scale precision associated with the work of a true clockmaker. With the advent of the portable clock came the widespread use of brass, and the accuracy and neatness typical of such mechanisms. By the middle of the 1700's few households were without a clock of some type; usually a long case or grandfather.
The demand for these grew so great that the trade became divided into a number of specialists, each of whom made one or more parts. A country clockmaker ordered his requirements, assembled them and added his name on the front of the face. The majority of surviving clocks made in country towns and villages were put together in this manner, and only occasionally were they made entirely by the men whose names appear boldly on them. The first clock cases were of gilt metal or brass, and the familiar type known as the lantern clock is a typical example. Wooden cases were introduced in the 1600`s, mostly of oak veneered with ebony but later with walnut and other woods. Inlays of floral marquetry and later of satinwood and ebony stringing followed fashions that prevailed at the times of manufacture.
Whereas a good Tompion will realize a thousand pounds or more, clocks by less exalted makers can be bought comparatively cheaply. An important factor is the condition of the movement; of greater interest to the collector than the case. Continual use during the centuries will have caused wear and necessitated replacement of parts; if this has not been done with great care and by a knowledgeable craftsman much of the value will have been lost, and it will be found that it is a very expensive matter to correct it. An apparently fine clock will sometimes disclose on examination that the entire striking mechanism has been removed, or that the old escapement has been changed for a more modern, but less capricious, one.
Further, movements have been adapted to fit cases, and vice versa; a long case of small size, known as a grandmother, should be treated with great caution. Old examples do exist but are very rare, and unscrupulous fakers have manufactured the majority of them. In France, clocks were placed in large and ornamental cases, sometimes with matching wall-brackets, covered in tortoiseshell inlaid with brass (Boulle work). The fashion lasted from about 1690, through the 1700's and later. In the early 1700's cases began to be veneered with kingwood, tulipwood, and other rare woods, mounted in ormolu and designed in styles to match those prevailing for furniture. Other clocks were given cases of ormolu and bronze, sometimes set with Dresden and other china groups and with Sevres porcelain flowers. Genuine specimens are rare and expensive, and they have been copied carefully and often. A feature of an old French clock movement is that the pendulum is suspended on a silk thread, which can be lengthened or shortened to regulate the time. German clocks often resemble closely the French. Others had movements of which the framing was of wood instead of the usual brass.