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By Tom Castronovo of The Clock Doctor ® A

The Evolution of Horology and the Grandfather Clock

efore the inter-mechanization of timed gears was used to help us advanced to the next station down the line for the next person to per-
stay current with the exact time of day, the earliest indication of form their function.
Btime passing was nature, itself – the change of light over the Looking over the evolution of time-telling methods and mechanisms,
seasons, the sun over the day, and the stars in the sky. one can see how the study and measurement of time—horology—relies
not only on the wonders of nature but the search for accuracy within it.
The Need to Know the Time
For most of human history, exact time wasn’t a concern. The sun Horology Beginnings
came up and it went down. Daily chores were scheduled as the sun Shadow clocks are among the oldest timekeeping tools, working by
allowed. The heat changed with the seasons. Planting, harvesting, and measuring the length and direction of shadows cast from a fixed pointer
hunting were all planned around the length and cycle of life as they throughout the day. In 1443 BC, Pharoh Thutmose III had a pair of
corresponded with each season. One year could be plentiful, the next obelisks built to cast shadows to indicate the time of day. They were
year fallow. Long-term planning was also something that turned with moved in 10 BC to the front of Alexandria’s Caesareum. In the mid-
the planet. 1800s, they were nicknamed “Cleopatra’s Needles” by British traveler
Within the scientific community, the study of the passing of time Paul Lucas, and the name stuck. One obelisk was given to London in
was fueled by inventing instruments meant to serve as a guideline for 1877, and the other was given to the United States upon completion of
those in power and those within their community to keep track. When the Suez Canal in 1869. It is in Central Park in New York City. The
it came to the planets, they created earliest sundials known from the archaeological record are shadow
Astronomical Regulators as a type of time- clocks from Egypt, circa 1500 BC.

keeper measuring the movement of the Clepsydra (water clocks) –
planets over time. These not only took into These date back to around the
consideration the position of the sun but 16th century BC and have
the atmospheric pressure and gravitational been found to exist in
pull that was in play right where the Babylon, Egypt, and Persia. A
Regulator stood. This was not for public simple device, they consisted
consumption but for the careful study of of a reservoir of water that
time and space. The general population would drip through a small
was still relying on nature to indicate where hole at a steady rate. The
they stood within a given year. reservoir was marked at the
Another major factor within the study height of the water’s surface at
of time was the movement of mankind and certain intervals of time. The
how that related to improved, mechanized, oldest documentation of the
engineered traveling tools. In 1825, the water clock is the tomb
first steam locomotive hit the tracks. Up to inscription of the 16th century
this time, different cities followed their BC Egyptian court official
own sense of time. They were fairly close in A limestone Egyptian water clock Amenemhet, which identifies
agreement, but no one had the inclination 285–246 BC him as its inventor.
or the reason to spend energy to correct the
transgressions. Hourglass – These were very similar to water clocks but used a
The Industrial Revolution changed all granular material instead of water. The grains would escape from one
that. Once the railroads in England began glass bulb to another by passing through a measured restricted opening.
to transport passengers all over the county Some early hourglasses did use sand, but the material used in most
it became very clear that there needed to be bulbs was powdered marble, tin/lead oxides, or pulverized, burnt
“a time”—not an approximate time, but a eggshells. The first documented example was crafted by a Frankish
reliable time—throughout the county. monk named Liutprand and dates from the 8th century in France.
This time would be the same at every train
station. With the advent of assembly lines
in factories which were revving up the Mechanical Clocks
Industrial Revolution, there was also a need The Gear Train – A gear train is a mechanical system formed by
for workers to report on time to their place fitting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage across the
in the line as certain functions needed to be mechanism. Gear teeth are designed so the point of engagement is on
performed before the workpiece could be the “pitch circle,” or the point where two gears connect along the
circumference of the gear. To ensure the engaging gears interact with-
out slipping, teeth are cut into both gears to provide a smooth
Cleopatra Needle in Central Park, NYC. The shaft is 71 feet high and weighs about 200 transmission of rotation from one to the next.
tons. The Obelisk’s move to New York City was nothing short of arduous. Once in the City, It has long been understood that geared wheel trains could be used
it took laborers four months to simply move it from the Hudson River to Central Park for many kinds of calculations.
where it now stands, located behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
38 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles