Antique Clock

Time only exists because of a creature’s perception—an illusion, so to speak—although everything in the universe is subject to it. Planets and other bodies move through space by gravitational pulls from one body or the other and yet, should gravity fail—suns forbid!—all things will continue to move through time. Timekeeping has been part of the human experience since the first homo-sapiens watched the sky to decide whether s/he should seek shelter. And, being always a tool-using species, humans have found ways to keep time without having to turn their gazes skyward.

Indeed, timepieces are no exception to the demands of technology; digital clocks are now replacing their mechanical counterparts, and though the latter may still hang on the walls of most, they are usually electronically powered. One cannot deny, however, that there exudes a certain air of wonder from the image of any antique clock; the sheer mechanical brilliance of being able to keep time accurately without the help of computers is undoubtedly the product of genius and weeks of fervent technical dedication.

Antique clocks, sadly, are seen today by the unversed as mere novelty items, conversation starters for cocktail parties; the more sensible man sees it as nothing less than a work of art—horology, the art of timekeeping, is alive and well in certain circles.

Antique clocks are as varied as their makers, and authentic ones keep their own histories; time tells its own stories, and the effective timekeeper keep centuries-worth of them. A pocket watch still in pristine condition, for example, made in the latter half of the 18th century by Ferdinand Berthoud, watchmaker to the King, was one of the first notable attempts at fixing the problem of temperature fluctuations daunting on the springs of its mechanisms; the gold-encased and flawless white-dialed timepiece sits in the British Museum to this day.

If not, however, for several timepieces’ contributions to the mechanical advances in horology, a collector can merely appreciate the severe attention that antique clocks receive during their making. Indeed, fine casings made of precious metals are no stranger to the makers of antique clocks, and similarly, the discerning antique clock collector will find that sculptures are part of the actual device. A lot of these pieces were specially ordered by those from noble or even royal lineage, thus horologists at the time were as careful as ever, as opposed to much of today’s timekeeping devices made in assembly lines.