On Display
An early example of a pendulum clock made by Johannes van Ceulen of The Hague, Netherlands. Van Ceulen made clocks for Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) and this clock follows Huygens' design. The pendulum is suspended between curved 'cheeks', so that i
This clock has a bellows filled with ethyl chloride gas which expands and contracts with changes of temperature and atmospheric pressure, so it never needs to be wound.
Early quartz crystal watch but one which operates on an entirely different principle. The frequency of the quartz crystal is not divided down electronically but is used to control and correct the vibrations of an arm by means of a cybernetic circuit.
This highly complex, top-quality watch shows much detailed astronomical information, including the phase of the Moon and the position of Sun in the zodiac.
Alexander Bain was a pioneer of electrical horology and the first person to produce electric clocks commercially. This is an example of one of his later designs with a magnetised pendulum which swings into coils attached to the side of the case. A sl
This is an example of the first really practical and long lasting self-winding wristwatch which was introduced by Rolex in 1931. A small movement of the wrist causes a semicircular weight to rotate and wind the mainspring. This keeps the spring at op
When the Accutron was introduced in 1960 it was described as the first electronic watch but it also had another revolutionary feature, the time keeping was controlled by a tuning fork. The tuning fork vibrated 360 times per second and the vibrations
Sandglasses are used to measure out a precise amount of time by the regular flow of sand (or other granular material of uniform size) through a small hole. They were probably invented in the 12th or 13th century and were used to regulate the length o
Crude sundials of this type were used in the Pyrenees as cheap alternatives to watches until well into the 20th century.They indicate time from the sun's altitude, which is also dependent on the latitude and the season of the year. This instrument i
One of the few surviving public clocks that still uses its original ‘foliot balance’ for its time control.
The Fromanteel family produced the first pendulum clocks in England, following the visit of Fromanteel’s son John to Holland.
This is one of the first pendulum clocks ever made. The words ‘met privilege’ on the plaque show Coster was licensed by Christaan Huygens to use his pendulum idea, the biggest advance in the history of timekeeping.
An early example of a pendulum clock made by Isaac Thuret (d. 1706), clockmaker to King Louis XIV (1638-1715) of France. The first commercial pendulum clocks were made in the Netherlands in 1657, under a licence or 'privilege' according to the design
The watch movement shown on the left dates from the first half of the 16th century and is made mainly of steel. Because the balance has no spring it does not have a natural frequency of vibration and the timekeeping depends on the driving force. With
The lantern or ‘birdcage’ clock was the earliest type of clock to be made in any numbers in England.
An exquisite watch by the master maker Thomas Tompion showing an early example of the balance spring mechanism.
Launched by the Hamilton Watch Company of Pennsylvania, USA on 3 January 1957, this was the world's first commercial electric watch. A significant advance in the development of electric timekeeping, it took more than ten years to develop. Among the m
Japanese pillar clock with single foliot balance and iron movement (weight missing)
This set of four sand glasses is mounted in a pivoted brass frame so that it can be inverted as required. They measure intervals of a quarter, half, three-quarters and one hour, and are of a type formerly used by preachers for timing their sermons.
