to the dead-beat. A good and simple escapement for large clocks.
The impulse is given the pendulum through the pallets by pins which
stand out from the face of the escape wheel. Lepaute made these pins
semi-circular and had his pallets of equal length acting on opposite
sides of the wheel. Sir E. Beckett cut away part of the front of the
pins which allows the pallets to act as in the diagram. The resting
faces are arcs of a circle. It has been superseded by the gravity
escapement for large clocks and is inferior to the dead-beat for small.
[Illustration]
ESCAPEMENT, RECOIL—Any escapement in which the pallets actually force
the escape wheel to turn backwards a trifle with each beat of the
balance. Cheap and easy to make but inferior as timekeepers to the
detached or dead-beat types.
ESCAPEMENT, RIGHT-ANGLED—A lever escapement so set that lines drawn
between the centers of the balance, pallets, and escape wheel would
form a right angle. See _Escapement, straight-line_.
ESCAPEMENT, SINGLE-BEAT—An escapement such as the Duplex, or
Chronometer, whose escape wheel moves only at alternate beats of the
balance or pendulum.
[Illustration]
ESCAPEMENT, SINGLE THREE-LEGGED GRAVITY—Consists of two pallets and one
three-legged locking wheel. Instead of the three pins for lifting as in
the Double Three-Legged Gravity escapement there is a triangular steel
block which acts against large friction rollers, pivoted one on each
pallet.
[Illustration]
ESCAPEMENT, SIX-LEGGED GRAVITY—A modification of the three-legged
gravity escapement. The locking wheel has six teeth. One of the pallet
arms is neutral and gives no impulse, hence impulse is given only at
each alternate vibration. A much lighter driving weight than for the
Double Three-legged Gravity escapement will suffice for this, since the
rotations of the escape wheel required are only half as many.
ESCAPEMENT, STRAIGHT-LINE—An escapement of the lever type in which
the escape wheel, pallets and balance are all in a straight line; an
arrangement favored by the Swiss.
[Illustration]
ESCAPEMENT, VERGE—Also called "Crown-wheel," or Vertical escapement.
The earliest form of escapement on record. The inventor is not known,
but the escapement was used on de Vick's clock. (1364.) It was used
almost exclusively up to 1750 in spite of its manifest inaccuracy. The
verge is a frictional recoil escapement. It consists of a crown-wheel,
with eleven, thirteen, or fifteen teeth, shaped like those of a rip
saw, and with its axis set at right angles to the pallets axis, or
verge, which carries the balance. The verge is a slender cylinder as
small as compatible with the required strength, from which project the
pallets, two flat steel "flags"—at an angle to each other varying from
90° to 115°. The wheel runs in a watch in a plane at right angles to
the face. Any variation in the motive power causes a variation in the
arc of the balance swing. Therefore, since the time of oscillation
depends on the arc of the swing, the time-keeping qualities were
directly affected. This gave rise to the invention of the stack-freed
and fusee, both contrivances to equalize the power of the mainspring.
In spite of the many defects the verge escapement was one of the great
inventions because the first escapement, and was used for centuries
before superior kinds were devised. It necessitated thick and bulky
watches.
[Illustration]
ESCAPEMENT, VIRGULE—An early form of escapement invented about 1660
by Abbe Hautefeuille. Its action can be readily understood from the
diagram.
ESCAPE PINION—The pinion on the escape-wheel arbor.
ESCAPE WHEEL—The last wheel of a train: it gives impulse to the
balance, indirectly. Also called scape wheel. Easily identified by
teeth resembling those of a circular saw.
FACE—1. Of a watch or clock is the dial. 2. Of the tooth of a wheel,
that portion beyond the pitch line.
FACIO, NICOLAS—A Geneva watchmaker who invented the art of piercing
jewels for use in watches, and in May, 1705, obtained a patent therefor
in London. In December of the same year when he petitioned for a
more extended patent he was opposed by the Clockmakers' Company,
who produced in evidence proof that Facio was not first in this use
of jewels, in an old watch of Ignatius Huggeford's with an amethyst
mounted on the cock of the balance wheel. Facio's petition was denied.
It was later discovered that Huggeford's jewel had nothing to do with
the mechanism of the watch.
FAVRE, PERRET E.—In 1876 the chief commissioner in the Swiss Department
and a member at that time of the International Jury on Watches at the
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. On his return home he was very
emphatic in his endorsement of the American method of manufacture as
compared to the Swiss.
FITCH E. C.—Made president of the Waltham Watch Co., in 1886. His
long experience in watch case and movement making and his commercial
training made his judgment on matters relating to watchmaking of
value. He was the inventor of the screw bezel case.
FLANK—The flank of a wheel or pinion is the part lying between the
pitch circle and the center.
FLIRT—Any device for causing the sudden movement of a mechanism.
FLY—A speed regulating device or governor consisting of a fan or two
vanes upon a rotating shaft. Used in the striking part of clocks. By
some believed to have been used on the earliest clocks—before the verge
escapement—to check a too rapid descent of the weight.
FLY PINION—The pinion in a clock that carries the fly: a part of the
striking mechanism.
[Illustration]
FOB—Properly a watch pocket in the waistband of trousers. Commonly
applied to the end of a chain or ribbon which is attached to the watch
and hangs free from the pocket. One of the early examples was attached
to a watch made for Oliver Cromwell in 1625 by John Midwall in Fleet
Street.
[Illustration]
FOLIOT—A straight armed balance with weights used as one of the
earliest clock regulators. De Vick's clock is one example of it.
FOLIOT BALANCE—See _Foliot_.
FOLLOWER—Of two wheels geared together, the one to which the driver
imparts motion is called the follower.
FORK—The fork shaped end of the lever into which plays the roller jewel.
FOURTH WHEEL—The wheel in a watch that drives the escape pinion and to
whose arbor the seconds hand is attached.
FRAME—The plates or plate and bars of a watch or clock which support
the pivots of the train.
FREE SPRING—A balance spring not controlled by curb pins. Used in
chronometers and other fine time pieces where the spring is an overcoil.
FROMANTEEL, AHASUERUS—A clockmaker of Dutch extraction—maker of steeple
clocks in East Smithfield. The family of Fromanteels were celebrated as
having been the first to introduce the pendulum clocks into England.
Their claim has since been contested in favor of Harris and Hooke.
FULL PLATE—A model in which the top plate is circular in form—the
balance being above this plate. Used now in 18 size watches for
railroad and other hard usage. They are made only in limited quantities.
[Illustration]
FUSEE—Invented by Jacob Zech of Prague about 1525. Consists of a
specially grooved cone-shaped pulley interposed between the mainspring
barrel and the great or driving wheel of a watch or clock. The
connection between the barrel and fusee was first made by a cord or
catgut, later by a chain. In winding the spring the cord is drawn from
the barrel on to the fusee—the first coil on the larger end. Thus the
mainspring when fully wound uncoils the cord first from the smaller
end of the fusee; and as it runs down gets the benefit of increased
leverage by reason of the greater diameter of the lower part of the
fusee. An excellent adjustment of the pressure on the center pinion can
be made in this way. The fusee has been abandoned in watches to allow
of thinness, but is still used in chronometers and clocks.
FUSEE CAP—A thin steel plate with a projecting nose on the smaller end
of the fusee: a part of the mechanism to stop the fusee when the last
coil of the chain is wound thereon.
FUSEE CHAIN—A very delicate steel chain connecting the barrel with
the fusee of a watch, chronometer or clock. It replaced the catgut
originally used and was first introduced by Gruet of Geneva about 1664.
FUSEE SINK—The sink cut in the top plate of a watch to give space for
the fusee.
GALILEO, GALILEI—Commonly called "Galileo." A famous Italian scientist
born in 1564 who discovered, among many other things, the isochronism
of the pendulum vibrating through long or short arcs. The story goes
that he noticed that a swinging chandelier in a certain cathedral took
the same length of time to each vibration whether in long or short
arcs—timing them by his pulse. He seems never to have applied this
principle to clocks, although he issued an essay on the subject in 1639.
GALILEO, VINCENTIS—Son of the great astronomer, born about 1600. He
aided his father in experiments and gave special attention to the
application of the pendulum to clocks. He is claimed by some to have
been the first to so apply the pendulum, in 1649, but this is disputed
in favor of Richard Harris of London.
GENEVA—A city in Switzerland in which watchmaking was first established
in that country. It is the center of the "hand" industry, and the city
is honeycombed with garret-workers—so-called—making parts.
GERBERT (POPE SYLVESTER II)—Born in Belliac, Auvergne, in 920. In
990 Gerbert made some sort of a clock which attained wide fame. Some
authorities claim that it was a clock moved by weights and wheels
and some even claim for it a verge escapement. On the other hand,
other authorities state positively that that story is a myth and that
Gerbert's horologe was a sun-dial. It seems pretty well accepted that
there was no escapement used, however, until more than two centuries
after Gerbert's time.
GERMAN SILVER—An alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc—copper
predominating. Really a white brass.
GIMBAL—A contrivance resembling a universal joint permitting a
suspended object to tip freely in all directions. Marine chronometers
are supported in their cases or boxes by gimbals. It was first applied
to chronometers by Huyghens.
[Illustration]
GNOMON—A simple and probably the most ancient instrument for marking
time consisting simply of a staff or pillow fixed perpendicularly in a
sunny place—time being reckoned by the changing length of the shadow
or by its angular movement. In more recent times the title "gnomon" was
applied to the style of the sun-dial.
GNOMONICS—The art of constructing and setting sun-dials taught
especially in the seventeenth century.
GODDARD, LUTHER—Born at Shrewsbury, Mass., February 28, 1762—Died 1842.
He was the first American to manufacture watches. He began in 1809 but
unable to compete as to price with cheap foreign watches, retired after
making about five hundred.
[Illustration]
GOING-BARREL—The Swiss early abandoned the fusee in watches and cut
teeth around the outside of the main-spring barrel so as to drive the
train direct. Such an arrangement is called a going-barrel. It made
possible a thinner and much simpler watch. American makers quickly
adopted this device, but the English long clung to the fusee. It
is sometimes claimed that the French were the first to adopt the
going-barrel.
GOING FUSEE—A fusee with maintaining power attachment, so that the
watch does not stop while being wound. Invented by Harrison.
GOLDEN NUMBER—Meton, an Athenian astronomer, discovered about 432 B.
C. that every nineteen years the new and full moons returned on the
same days of the month. This period is the cycle of the moon, called
the Golden Number because the Greeks, to honor it, had it written in
letters of gold. Anno Domini, the year of our Lord, fell on the second
year of a lunar cycle. Hence, to find the Golden Number for any year,
add 1 to the date (A. D.) and divide by 19. The remainder is the Golden
Number for the year.
GOLD-FILLED—A sheet of brass sandwiched between two thin plates of gold
and all brazed together. Gold-filled watch cases were introduced in
America. They give very good wear.
GRAHAM, GEORGE, F. R. S.—An English watchmaker and astronomer, born
in Cumberland in 1675. Died 1751. He was an apprentice of Tompion
and succeeded to Tompion's reputation as the best watchmaker of his
time. He invented the mercurial compensation pendulum, the dead-beat
escapement, and perfected the cylinder escapement of Tompion and left
it in practically its present form. He made ornamentation distinctly
subsidiary to use. He was master of the Clockmakers' Company in
1722-23. He was buried with Tompion in Westminster Abbey.
GREAT TOM—The great bell which struck the hours on the first clock at
Westminster. It was afterwards transferred to St. Paul's.
GREAT WHEEL—In a fusee watch the toothed wheel which transmits the
power from the fusee to the center pinion. In a going-barrel watch it
is represented by the toothed portion of the barrel drum.
GREENWICH OBSERVATORY—(England) Royal observatory founded 1675 to
promote astronomy and navigation. There is at this observatory a
standard motor clock which is the center of a system of electrically
controlled clocks scattered over the Kingdom, and which thus keeps
official time as our Naval Observatory clock does for the United States.
GRIMTHORPE—See _Denison, E. B._
GRUEN, DIETRICH—A Swiss watchmaker who with his son Fred first
succeeded in making a very thin watch. The Gruen watch factory at
Cincinnati, Ohio, is unique in this country. The buildings and
surroundings resemble those of Switzerland, and the method of
manufacture embodies more handwork than is common in the American
system.
GRUET—A Swiss who introduced chains for the fusee instead of catgut
cord, in 1664. They are still used for marine chronometers, some
clocks, and the few fusee watches now made.
GUARD PIN—A pin in a lever escapement which prevents the pallets
leaving the escape wheel when the hands of a watch are turned back.
Also known as the "safety pin."
GUILD OR GILD—An association of people occupied in kindred pursuits
for mutual protection and aid. Watch and clockmakers belonged to the
Blacksmiths' Guild in England until 1631, when the Clockmakers'
Company was formed. In France the Clockmakers' Guild was powerful in
1544.
HAIR-SPRING—Said by some to be a distinctly American term for
the balance spring of a watch. But Wood (English) uses it in his
"Curiosities of Clocks and Watches," 1866. However, it is not in common
use outside of America. It is thought to have originated from the fact
that in early times attempts were made to utilize hog-bristle for the
balance spring.
HALF PLATE—A watch in which the top plate covers but half of the pillar
plate, the fourth wheel pinion being carried in a cock to allow the
use of a larger balance. Now obsolete or nearly so. Replaced by the
bridge-model.
HALL MARK—A stamp placed upon gold and silver articles by government
officials after the metal therein has been assayed.
HANDS—The metal pointers which, moved by the train, indicate the time
by pointing to the figures on the dial. At present there are always
two, the hour and minute hands and frequently a seconds hand also.
Clocks at first were made with only the hour hand; the minute hand was
introduced when the use of the pendulum made timekeeping sufficiently
accurate for the indication of such small divisions.
HANGING BARREL—A going-barrel with its arbor supported only at the
upper end.
HARRIS, RICHARD—An English clockmaker for whom it is claimed that he
made the first pendulum clock—set up at St. Paul's, Covent Garden,
in 1641. Most authorities agree, however, that this honor belongs to
Huyghens.
HARRISON, JOHN—An English mechanician born at Faulby in Yorkshire
in 1693. He made many improvements in the mechanism of clocks, the
greatest of which was the compound pendulum. He won in 1761 a reward
offered by Parliament in 1714 for an instrument that would determine
longitude within thirty marine miles. Harrison's chronometer gave
it within eighteen miles. He invented the going fusee, the gridiron
compensation pendulum and suggested the idea for the compensation
balance, afterward worked out by other watchmakers. Died 1776.
HAUTEFEUILLE, JOHN—(Abbe.) Born 1647. Died 1724. He disputed
successfully Huyghens' claim to a prior invention of the steel balance
spring. He is also credited with the invention about 1722 of the
rack-lever escapement.
[Illustration]
HEART-PIECE—The heart-shaped cam on the center-seconds wheel of a
chronograph, which causes the hand to fly back to zero.
HELE, PETER—(See _Henlein, Peter_.) Some historians credit invention
of first watch to Peter Hele. There is no doubt, however, that Hele
and Henlein were one and the same. Preponderance of authority favors
"Henlein" as the correct spelling of the name.
HELICAL—Following the course of a helix or spiral.
HELIOTROPION—See "_Polos_."
HEMICYCLE—Form of sun-dial in which the shadow of a vertical pointer
or "gnomon" is cast upon and moves around the inner surface of a half
globe or sphere. Supposed to have been invented about 350 B. C. (See
_Sun-Dial_). Vitruvius, the Roman Engineer, ascribes invention to the
Babylonian priest and astronomer, Berosus.
HENLEIN, PETER—Sometimes called Peter Hele. A clockmaker of Nuremberg,
who is believed to have made the _first_ portable (pocket) clock or
_watch_ sometime early in the sixteenth century. Born 1480. Died about
1540. His clock was round, driven by a spring and had small wheels of
steel. It was much larger than present day watches.
HOLLOW PINION—A pinion bored through the center. The center pinion in
many watches is hollow.
"HON-WOO-ET-LOW" OR COPPER JARS DROPPING WATER—A form of clepsydra at
Canton, China, said to be between 3000 and 4000 years old. It consists
of four copper jars arranged on steps. Each jar drops water into the
one below it until the last one, in which a bamboo float, indicates the
time in a rude way.
HOOKE, ROBERT, M. D.—An English physician-philosopher born on the
Isle of Wight in 1635. His accomplishments were numerous. He claimed
to have discovered the isochronism of the balance spring and its
application to watches, though this was also claimed by Huyghens.
He invented a pendulum timekeeper for finding the longitude at sea;
devised the first wheel-cutting engine about 1670; and he invented the
anchor escapement for clocks. His studies and inventions covered a wide
field. He died in 1702.
HOROLOGE, (OROLOGE), (HOROLOGIUM)—A general term applied
indiscriminately in old writings to any mechanism for measuring time.
HOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE—BRITISH—An association of watchmakers founded in
1858 for the purpose of advancing the horological arts.
HOROLOGICAL PERIODICALS, AMERICAN—American Jeweler, (Monthly), Chicago,
Ill.; Goldsmith and Silversmith, (Monthly), New Haven, Conn.; Jeweler's
Circular, (Weekly), New York,; Keystone (Monthly), Philadelphia, Pa.;
Manufacturing Jeweler, Providence, R. I.; Mid-Continent Jeweler, Kansas
City, Mo.; National Jeweler, (Monthly), Chicago, Ill.; Northwestern
Jeweler, St. Paul, Minn.; Pacific Goldsmith, (Monthly), San Francisco,
Cal.; Trader and Canadian Jeweler, Toronto, Canada.
HOROLOGIUM—See _Horologe_.
HOROLOGY-The science of time-measurement or of the construction of time
pieces.
HOUR—Now consisting of sixty minutes or one twenty-fourth of an
equinoctial day. Formerly one twelfth of the time between sunrise and
sunset, and one twelfth of the time between sunset and sunrise; hence
of different lengths for day and night in the different seasons. This
required much adjustment of clocks; and automatic devices for such
adjustment were in great demand. A standard hour of uniform length
for all times and seasons was not adopted in Paris—the last place to
change—until 1816.
HOUR-GLASS—A device for measuring hours. It has two cone-shaped
superimposed glass globes connected at their apexes through a small
opening. The glass contains just that quantity of sand, or mercury,
as will flow in one hour through the opening from the upper globe
to the lower. When it has run through the glass is reversed. See:
_Sand Glass_. Like the sun-dial and the clepsydra, the hour-glass is
older than we know. Its use probably followed close upon that of the
clepsydra, or may even have preceded it in dry countries like Egypt
and Babylonia, where sand was all about and water was not a thing to
waste. Of its original forms there is no authentic record. Dry sand
does not, like water, run faster or slower through a given opening
according to the pressure from above; its rate is the same whether
the upper glass is full or nearly empty. Also the hour-glass never
needs to be refilled, but only to be reversed, and the same sand used
over and over again. On the other hand, its convenience diminished as
its size increased. It was too clumsy for use if made large enough
to run without attention for more than an hour or two; and in so
large a glass there was more danger that the sand, however dry, might
cake up and stop running. It must somehow have been transparent for
convenient reading, because sand can register the time only by its
flow: it cannot be made to raise a float or work a pointer. But the
Egyptians very early learned to manufacture glass, and there were
other substances. A legend ascribes the invention of the sand-glass to
Luitprand, a Carthusian monk of the Eighth Century A. D. But this, if
there is any truth in the story at all, must have been some improvement
or reinvention after the forgetfulness of the Dark Ages. The device
is plainly shown in Greek sculptures antedating the Christian era.
Nowadays the sand-glass has pretty much disappeared, except as a
kitchen timepiece for boiling eggs and the like.
[Illustration]
HOUR HAND—The hand of a watch or clock which indicates the hour: for
long after clocks were first made, the only hand provided.
HOUR WHEEL—The wheel which revolves on the minute wheel or cannon
pinion and carries the hour hand.
HOWARD, EDWARD—Born at Hingham, Mass., October 6, 1813. Having served
a regular apprenticeship in clockmaking he entered into partnership
with D. P. Davis, at the age of 29, to make clocks. He was a clever
mechanic and invented many pieces of mechanism, among them the swing
rest. In 1849 he and Davis with A. L. Dennison and others organized the
American Horologe Company for the manufacture of watches by machinery,
and with the parts interchangeable—the American principle of today.
Though they were not financially successful the American watch industry
owes its present day success largely to this beginning by Edward Howard
and Aaron L. Dennison. The first company developed into the present
Waltham Company, and later Mr. Howard established the E. Howard Co., at
Roxbury, but severed his connection with them in 1882 and retired from
business. He died March 5, 1904.
HUGGEFORD, IGNATIUS—An English watchmaker, one of whose watches was
used to defraud Facio of his patent on the use of jewels in watches.
See _Facio, Nicolas_.
HUNTER, OR HUNTING-CASE—A watch case which has a solid metal cover over
the dial.
HUNTER, GEORGE—Identified with watchmaking in America since about
1860—in the Waltham and Elgin Companies. He was general superintendent
of the latter from 1872 to 1903, after which he was made consulting
superintendent.
HUYGHENS, CHRISTIAN—A celebrated Dutch astronomer and mathematician
born at The Hague, April 14, 1629. Although the honor is claimed
for Richard Harris in 1641 and for Vincent Galileo in 1649 it seems
historically established that Huyghens in 1657 was the first to apply
to clocks the theory of the isochronism of the pendulum which the
great Galileo had discovered. In 1669 he published his important work,
"Horologium Oscillatorium." In 1673 he made the first clock with
concentric hour and minute hands. He died in 1695.
HUYGHENS' CHECKS—The arc of a swinging pendulum is a segment of a
circle. For perfect isochronism it should be a cycloidal segment.
To accomplish this Huyghens fixed curved brass pieces called checks
for the cord to strike against but he caused thereby a greater error
than he remedied. This end was later accomplished by suspending the
pendulum by means of a flat steel strip instead of a cord; a device
credited to Robert Hooke.
[Illustration]
HYPOCYCLOID—A curve generated by any point in the circumference of a
circle which is rolled on the inner side of the circumference of a
larger fixed circle.
[Illustration]
IDLER, IDLE WHEEL, OR INTERMEDIATE WHEEL—A toothed wheel used to
connect driver and follower wheels so that both shall rotate in the
same direction.
IMPULSE—The push transmitted to the pallet by the escape wheel.
IMPULSE PIN—The jewel pin—usually a ruby—on the table roller of the
lever escapement, which playing into the fork of the lever transmits
the impulse to the balance.
INDEPENDENT CENTER-SECONDS—A watch peculiarly adapted to the use of the
medical profession. It carries on a separate train a long seconds hand
in addition to the hands of the ordinary watch which can be stopped
without stopping the watch.
INDEPENDENT SECONDS—A watch whose seconds hand is driven by a separate
train.
INGERSOLL, CHARLES HENRY—Secretary, Treasurer and General Manager of
Robt. H. Ingersoll & Bro., watch manufacturers, of New York City.
Born at Delta, Eaton County, Michigan, October 29, 1865, a son of
Orville Boudinot and Mary Elizabeth (Beers) Ingersoll. At the early
age of fifteen years he left home and went to New York City, where he
entered the employ of his brother, Robert H., who was then engaged
in the business of manufacturing rubber stamps. Since 1880 he has
been continuously associated with his brother in various business
enterprises and in the direction and management of the Ingersoll
organization. Married Eleanor Ramsey Bond of Brooklyn, New York, July
5, 1898. Residence, South Orange, New Jersey.
INGERSOLL, ROBERT HAWLEY—Founder and President of Robt. H. Ingersoll &
Bro., watch manufacturers, of New York City. Born December 26, 1859,
of Orville Boudinot and Mary Elizabeth (Beers) Ingersoll, at Delta,
Eaton County, Michigan, he received his early education in the public
schools of his native town. In 1879, at the age of nineteen years,
he came to New York City, and in the following year engaged in the
business of manufacturing rubber stamps; later, he established a mail
order business, selling various "dollar" specialties and novelties.
While engaged in this business he conceived the idea and in 1892
commenced the manufacture of the "dollar watch," since which time
over 50,000,000 watches have been produced and sold by the Ingersoll
organization. Married June 20, 1904, to Roberta Marie Bannister of
Green Bay, Wisconsin. Residence, Oyster Bay, Long Island.
INGERSOLL, WILLIAM HARRISON—Marketing Manager of Robert H. Ingersoll
& Bro., watch manufacturers, New York City. Born March 22, 1879, near
Lansing, Michigan. He received a grammar and high school education
and three years' technical training for electrical engineer. In 1901
he entered business in the retail sporting goods store of Robt. H.
Ingersoll & Bro. in New York City and was soon placed in charge
of the Ingersoll watch advertising, over which he exercised close
supervision ever since, except for two periods prior to 1908, when he
sought and gained valuable outside experience in other capacities,
such as salesman and as manager of the Ingersoll watch business in
Canada; he then became advertising manager, later sales and advertising
manager and then general marketing manager for developing all markets
of all countries of the world for the Ingersoll products. Active in
the promotion of advertising research, Mr. Ingersoll was one of the
founders of Truth in Advertising work, assisted in establishing a
Fellowship in Advertising Research at Columbia University, New York
City, and has written and lectured extensively on salesmanship,
advertising, marketing and related subjects. His residence is at
Maplewood, New Jersey.
INGOLD, FRANZ—A Swiss watchmaker who had the idea of making watch
parts on the interchangeable plan long before it was put into practice
anywhere. He was ill-received by labor and capital alike when he
presented his plans in France, England, and America. In England he was
nearly mobbed. In 1842-43 he obtained patents on some machinery in this
line, but the machines were clumsy and for the most part impracticable.
There has been a tendency to credit Ingold as the source of Dennison's
ideas on this subject, though Dennison says he never heard of Ingold
until after he had started manufacturing.
INTERCALARY—Introduced or added arbitrarily to a calendar; for example,
the 29th day of February is an intercalary day.
INTERCHANGEABILITY—America's greatest contribution to watchmaking has
been the standardizing of parts and the manufacturing of each of them,
exactly alike, in great quantities. So that repairing an American watch
is largely a matter of obtaining a new part similar to the damaged one,
and simply putting it in place.
INVAR—An alloy of nickel and steel claimed to be non-magnetizable. Used
for certain parts of watches at the time when non-magnetizable watches
were desirable. Invar is practically non-expansible when the nickel in
it is about 37%.
ISOCHRONISM—That property of a pendulum or balance spring by virtue of
which its vibrations, of whatever length, are all made in exactly equal
periods of time.
JACKS; OR JACK O' THE CLOCK—Figures on the old turret clocks which
automatically struck the hours. They preceded dials tho were usually
left when the dials were added. There are Jacks on the clock at St.
Mary Steps, Exeter; Norwich Cathedral, South Aisle; and St. Dunstan's
in Fleet St., among others.
[Illustration]
JACQUEMARTS—Figures of man and woman which struck the hours on the
clock set up by Philip of Burgundy at Dijon, prior to 1370. G. Peignot
says they are so named from Jacquemart, a clock maker of Lille,
employed by the Duke of Burgundy in 1442. The lack of co-ordination in
the dates tends to controvert the claim.
JEROME, CHAUNCEY—Originator of the one-day brass clock movement which
enormously increased the American clock business and opened a market
for American clocks in Europe. Born in Canaan, Connecticut, in 1793.
Established the Jerome Clock Company at New Haven, Connecticut. This
was the predecessor of The New Haven Clock Company.
JEWELLED—Fitted with precious stones to diminish wear as distinguished
from precious stones for ornament. In the best watches ruby and
sapphire are used. In lower grade watches quartz, amethyst and garnet.
JEWELS—Used in watches as bushings at the ends of pivots and in other
places which sustain much wear. They:
1. Provide smooth bearings for the
pivots.
2. Obviate corrosion.
3. Reduce the wear from abrasion.
Sapphire is the best of the jewels in use and ruby second. Chrysolite
is also used and garnet, tho the latter is too brittle for most
service. This use of jewels was invented by Nicolas Facio—a Swiss
watchmaker about 1705.
JULIAN PERIOD—A period of 7980 years obtained by multiplying 28, 19 and
15—the numbers representing the cycles of the sun and moon, and the
Roman Indiction. It will end 3267 A. D., until which time there cannot
be two years having the same numbers for three cycles.
JURA MOUNTAINS—A watchmaking center in Switzerland. The industry grew
rapidly following the success of Daniel Jean Richard in 1679. This
section is the center of the system of watch-manufacturing most nearly
like the American system. See _Geneva_.
JURGENSEN, JULES—One of the most famous watchmakers of the 19th
century; a son of Urban Jurgensen, born in 1808. He studied physics,
mechanics and astronomy in Paris and London and finally settled in
Locle, Switzerland, specializing in pocket chronometers, which have
become famous as the Jurgensen watches. He died in 1877; and was
succeeded by his son, Jules F. U. Jurgensen.
JURGENSEN, URBAN—A Danish mathematician and watchmaker born in 1776.
He practiced his trade for a time in Switzerland, worked in Paris
under Breguet and Berthoud, and then in London, before returning
to Copenhagen to enter into partnership with his father, the court
watchmaker. He was made superintendent of all the chronometers of the
Danish navy and received several decorations. He died in 1830.
KEW OBSERVATORY—The central meteorological observatory of the United
Kingdom. Established at Richmond in 1842 and afterward transferred to
the Royal Society. Since 1900 it has been a department of the National
Laboratory. Important to the watch business because of the famous Kew
tests of timekeepers and awards for accuracy of performance.
KEYLESS WATCHES—Watches winding without a key. Such watches were made
as early as 1686 but did not come into general use until 1843, when
Adrien Phillipe (Geneva) introduced the "shifting clutch" type, and
when the "rocking bar" mechanism was introduced in 1855. These are the
types in use today. Self-winding watches have been made from time to
time. Napoleon is said to have had one which wound automatically from
the motion of being carried. The abandonment of the key nullified the
usefulness of the fusee, although some keyless fusee movements were
attempted.
KNUCKLES—The rounded parts of a watchcase that form the hinges or
joints. Usually two on the cover.
LA CHAUX DE FONDS—A watchmaking center in Switzerland which, in 1840,
with a population of 9678, had 3109 watchmakers. At present it is the
leading exporter of gold watches in Switzerland. In this section the
system of manufacturing is much like the American system.
LAMINATED—Made up of tin sheets of beaten, rolled or pressed metal. In
the compensation balance—the sheets are of brass and steel, or brass
and aluminum.
LANCASTER, PA.—A town where there have been watch factories for upwards
of fifty years.
LANGE, ADOLPH—An eminent Dresden watchmaker born there in 1815, famous
for his astronomical clocks, chronometers, and fine watches. Under the
direction and with the assistance of his government he established the
extensive watchmaking industry of Glashutte. He died in 1875.
LANTERN PINION—A pinion consisting of two circular metal end plates
usually of brass joined by short steel wires which act as cogs in a
gear.
LATITUDE—1. In astronomy, the angular elevation of a heavenly body
above the ecliptic. 2. In geography a distance measured in degrees,
minutes and seconds north or south from the equator. 3. In dial work,
the elevation of the pole of the heavens; the angle at which the plane
of the horizon is cut by the earth's axis.
LEAD—The continuous action of a wheel tooth which impels the leaf of a
pinion or the pallet of a balance.
LEAP-YEAR—See _Calendar, Gregorian_.
LEAVES—The name applied to the teeth of a pinion wheel.
LEPAUTE, J. A.—1709-1789. A French clockmaker famous for his turret
clocks; the inventor of the pin-wheel escapement and an authoritative
writer on horological subjects. He wrote "Traité d'Horlogerie" which
was afterward revised and added to by Lalaude.
LEPIRE, JEAN ANTOINE—Born 1720. Died 1814. A celebrated watchmaker of
Paris in the 18th century. About 1770 he introduced bars to take the
place of a top plate, omitted the fusee, used a cylinder escapement and
supported his mainspring barrel arbor at one end only. He attempted to
establish a watch factory for Voltaire at Ferney but with no success.
He is sometimes credited with making the first thin watch.
LE ROY, JULIEN—1686-1759. A French scientist and watchmaker. He
invented the horizontal movement for turret clocks, a form of repeating
mechanism. He constructed the first compensation balance.
LE ROY, PIERRE—1717-1785. Son of Julien Le Roy. Esteemed the greatest
of all French horologists. He invented a form of duplex escapement
and an escapement which formed the basis for the present chronometer
escapement.
LEVER—That part of a lever escapement to which are attached the pallet
arms, and which thus transmits motion from the escape wheel to the
balance.
LIFT, OR LIFTING ARC—That portion of the oscillation of a balance
during which it received its impulse. The remainder of the turn is
called the supplementary arc.
LIGHTFOOT, PETER—A Glastonbury monk, maker of the Glastonbury and
Wimburne clocks, 1335.
LIPS—In a cylinder escapement, the rounded edges of the cylinder
through which the escape wheel gives impulse to the balance.
LOCKING—1. The stopping of the escape wheel of a watch or clock. 2. The
portion of the pallet on which the teeth of the escape wheel drop. 3.
The depth to which the escape tooth laps upon the pallet at the moment
it leaves the impulse face.
LOGAN, JOHN—Born in Lowell, Mass., 1844. Invented a new method of
tempering springs and made superior main and balance springs. He was
connected for several years with the Waltham Watch Company, during
which time he invented many labor-saving machines. Died 1893.
LONGITUDE—The circular distance east or west subtending the angle which
two meridional planes make at the axis of the earth, one of them being
a standard reference meridian.
LONGINES—A watch factory at St. Imier in the Jura Mountains, near La
Chaux de Fonds, established in 1874. Here all parts are made under one
roof and the work is done by machinery.
LOWER PLATE—The plate in a watch nearest the dial. Also called the
"dial plate." It carries the lower pivots of the movement.
LUITPRAND—A monk of Chartres who revived the art of glass-blowing at
the end of the 8th century. To him is sometimes ascribed the invention
of the sand-glass.
LUMINOUS DIAL—A watch dial whose hands and figures are so treated as
to be visible in the dark. Formerly accomplished by a phosphorescent
paint which required frequent exposure to sunlight to be effective and
retained its luminosity only an hour or two. Now effected by means of a
compound absolutely independent of the sunlight and of a lasting glow.
See _Radiolite_.
[Illustration]
LUNETTE—The usual form of rounded watch crystal.
MAINSPRING—The long steel ribbon used for driving a clock or watch. The
spring is coiled into a circular metal box called the barrel and the
outer end of the spring is fastened to the barrel; the inner end to the
arbor of the great wheel. First applied, replacing weights, by Peter
Henlein of Nuremberg, about 1500.
MAINTAINING POWER—The device for driving the train while a watch or
clock is being wound.
MARSH, E. A.—An important figure in watch manufacturing in America
for a number of years. Born at Sunderland, Conn., in 1837, in 1863
he entered the employ of the Waltham Watch Company and rose to the
position of General Superintendent. In 1908 he retired from active
service but retains his connection with the company as consulting
superintendent. Besides his practical services to the watchmaking
industry Mr. Marsh wrote "The Evolution of Automat Machinery," in 1896.
MASSEY, EDWARD—An English watchmaker of the early nineteenth century.
He invented the "crank roller" escapement, a kind of keyless winding
for watches, and many other watch parts.
MEAN SOLAR DAY—The average length of all the solar days in a year. This
period is divided into 24 parts, or hours.
MEAN TIME—Clocks, watches, etc., are made to measure equal units of
time instead of the apparent time indicated by the sun. Mean time and
true solar time agree only four times in a year. See _Equation of Time_.
MERCER'S BALANCE-A balance of the ordinary kind fitted with an
auxiliary—a laminated arm of brass and steel fixed at one end to
the central bar of the balance and on its free end carrying two
adjustable screws. This auxiliary may be arranged for either extreme of
temperature with great accuracy.
[Illustration]
MERIDIAN DIAL—A dial for determining when the sun is on the meridian.
It is very simply constructed. For directions see "Watch and
Clockmakers' Handbook," by F. J. Britten.
MERIDIAN WATCH—A watch which shows the time in a number of places in
different parts of the world. It is set to Greenwich time and marks
the difference between this and the time of all the great metropolitan
cities in both hemispheres.
[Illustration]
METRONOME—An instrument for indicating and marking exact time music.
It consists of a counterbalanced, or reversed, pendulum, which may be
regulated to swing at any desired number of vibrations per minute.
MIDDLE TEMPERATURE ERROR—The compensation balance does not exactly
meet the temperature error. The rim expands too much with decrease of
temperature and contracts too little with the increase. Hence a watch
or chronometer can be correctly adjusted for two points only. The
unavoidable error between is the middle temperature error.
MINUTE—The sixtieth part of a mean solar hour.
MINUTE HAND—The hand on a clock or watch which indicates the minutes.
In the earlier days clocks had no minute hand. It was first concentered
with the hour hand in 1673.
MINUTE WHEEL—The wheel which carries the minute hand and is driven by
the cannon pinion.
MINUTE WHEEL PIN OR STUD—The stud fixed to the plate on which the
minute wheel pinion turns.
MINUTE WHEEL PINION OR "NUT"—The pinion in watches on which the minute
wheel is mounted and which drives the hour wheel.
MOMENT OF INERTIA—The resistance of a body in motion (or at rest) to a
change in the velocity or direction of its motion. In a rotating body
the sum of the products formed by multiplying the mass of each particle
by the square of its distance from an axis.
MONTH—An arbitrary division of the year, varying in the number of days
it contains, according to the calendar in use. See _Calendar_.
MORTISE—A slot or hole into which a tenon of corresponding shape is to
be fitted.
MOSELEY, C. S.—A pioneer in the field of designing and building
automatic watchmaking machinery. He invented some of the most delicate
and complicated tools and mechanisms used in watch manufacture. He was
early connected with the Waltham Co., master mechanic for the Nashua
Co., during its brief history; and later general superintendent of the
Elgin National Watch Company.
MOTION—The wheels that carry the hands: cannon pinion, horn wheel and
minute wheel and pinion.
MOTION WORK—The wheels in a watch which make the motion of the hour
hand one twelfth as rapid as that of the minute hand.
MOVEMENT—The watch or clock complete, without dial or case—the
mechanism of the watch or clock.
MUDGE, THOMAS—An English watchmaker of the 18th century. Born at Exeter
in 1716, died 1794. In 1793 he received from Parliament three thousand
pounds as a recompense for his improvements in chronometers. His work
was celebrated for its excellence.
NAME BAR—The bar which carries the upper end of the arbor of a watch
barrel.
NAVAL OBSERVATORY—The United States Naval Observatory at Washington, D.
C. There is there a superlatively accurate clock from which the time is
flashed electrically to all parts of the United States.
NEUCHATEL—A town in the Jura Mountains' watch manufacturing district of
Switzerland. A Cantonal Observatory at Neuchatel helps establish the
reputation for the accuracy of Swiss watches.
[Illustration]
NON-MAGNETIC WATCH—A watch in which the quick-moving parts—lever,
pallets, balance spring, etc., are made of some other metal besides
steel—as aluminum bronze, invar, etc.
NUREMBERG—A German city where Peter Henlein made the first watch. It
was one of the chief clock centers of the 16th and 17th centuries and
with Augsburg and Ulm supplied the markets of Europe with the first
small clocks.
NUREMBERG EGGS—Watches made in Nuremberg in the shape of eggs. If not
the first watches at least very early examples.
OBELISK—A square shaft with a pyramidal top. The ancient Egyptian
obelisks are thought to have served as gnomons.
[Illustration]
OGIVE—A pointed arch—of the architectural type known as Gothic.
OIL SINK—The cavity around the pivot hole in watch and clock plates,
designed to hold a small particle of oil in contact with the pivot.
ORMOLU—Gilt or bronzed metallic ware, or a fine bronze which has the
appearance of being gilded. Used for ornamenting the cases of fine old
clocks.
OROLOGE—An obsolete form of horologe. See _Horologe_.
OROLOGIERS—An obsolete form of horologers, a term not now in use but
signifying men who constructed time-pieces.
[Illustration]
ORRERY—A planetarium; an instrument showing the relative motions,
positions and masses of the sun and planets. It was so named from Lord
Orrery, for whom the first modern planetarium was made in England.
OSCILLATION—The movement back and forward of a pendulum or the swing of
a balance spring. The vibration.
OVERBANKING—Pushing of the ruby pin past the lever, caused by excessive
vibration of the balance. In a cylinder escapement the turning back of
the cylinder until an escape wheel tooth catches and holds it. In a
chronometer escapement the second unlocking of the escape wheel from
the same cause.
OVERCOIL—The outermost coil of a Breguet spring which is bent back
across the coil toward the center.
PACIFICUS—Archdeacon of Verona, died about 850 A.D. It is claimed by
some that he made a clock furnished with an escapement. (Bailly.)
But this is not proved, and others believe it to have been merely a
water-clock.
PAD—The pallet of the anchor escapement for clocks.
PAIR CASE—At one time watches were made with two or even three separate
cases. The outer one of shagreen tortoise shell, or some other
ornamental material was sometimes for the protection of the delicate
enamel on the inner case. Sometimes as in the case of repeaters the
inner case was pierced to emit the sound. Then the outer one served as
dust protection to the works.
PALLADIUM—A soft metal formerly used in alloy with copper and silver
for the balance and balance spring of non-magnetizable watches. Too
soft to be as serviceable as steel, it has been superseded by a
platinum alloy.
PALLET—Has different meanings, even among watchmakers. Generally, the
part through which the escape wheel gives impulse to the balance or
pendulum.
PALLET STAFF—The arbor on which the pallet is mounted, and on which it
turns.
PALLET STONE—The jewel on the contact face of the pallet, where it is
struck by the teeth of the escape wheel.
PARALLAX—The apparent angular displacement of a heavenly body due to a
change of the observer's position.
PEDOMETER—An instrument which registers the number of paces
walked—hence if properly adjusted to the length of step of the wearer
it gives the distance traversed.
PENDANT—The small neck and knob of metal connecting the bow of a watch
case with the band of the case.
PENDULUM—A body suspended by a rod or cord and free to swing to and
fro; used in clocks to regulate the velocity with which the driving
power moves the wheels and hence the hands. The isochronism of a
pendulum vibrating in a cycloidal arc was first discovered by Galileo
but he did not apply it to clocks. Most authorities credit Christian
Huyghens with that adaptation to instruments for keeping time.
The pendulum was first suspended by a silk cord and thus vibrated
in a circular instead of cycloidal arc. "Huyghens' Checks" were an
unsuccessful attempt to remedy this. Dr. Hooke succeeded in remedying
it by suspending the pendulum by a flat ribbon of spring steel.
[Illustration]
PENDULUM, GRIDIRON—Invented by Harrison in 1726, and still with slight
improvements an effective timekeeper. The rod of this pendulum is
constructed of five steel and four brass rods so arranged that those
which expand most are counteracted by those of less expansion, and the
length of the pendulum remains constant.
PENDULUM, MERCURIAL COMPENSATION—A pendulum having for a bob a jar of
mercury which expands upward with the increase of temperature thus
counteracting the lengthening of the rod from the same cause. Invented
by Graham about 1720. With slight improvements still in use and keeps
time very accurately.
[Illustration]
PENDULUM, TORSION—A pendulum vibrating by the alternate twisting and
untwisting of an elastic suspension. The body is a horizontal disc
weighted around its edges, and its suspension a steel or brass wire.
The period of a torsion pendulum being much longer than a vibrating
pendulum of the same length, the time of running is longer. Clocks
fitted with torsion pendulums have run a year on one winding.
PENDULUM SWING—The short ribbon of spring steel which suspends the
pendulum of a clock.
PENETRATION OF GEARING—The depth of intermeshing of the teeth of pinion
and wheel.
PHILLIPS SPRING—A balance spring with terminal curves after rules laid
down by M. Phillips, an eminent French mathematician. A term seldom
used though his curves are generally followed.
[Illustration]
PILLAR—The three or four short brass posts which keep the plates at
their proper distance apart. In early days made in very artistic and
elaborate shapes. Later they became plain straight cylindrical columns.
PILLAR MODEL—A type of movement in which the works are hung between two
plates supported and separated by posts or pillars and forming all the
principal bearings of the movement. Only average adjustment is possible
in this model. In this model the plate is sometimes cut away to imitate
a "bridge model." The opposite extreme in construction to the "bridge
model."
PILLAR PLATE—The lower plate of a watch movement—the one nearest the
dial—to which the pillars are solidly fixed, in a "pillar model."
PINCHBECK, OR "PINCHBECK GOLD"—An alloy of three parts zinc to four of
copper which "resembles gold in color, smell and ductility." So called
from its inventor Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732) who during his life
guarded the secret of its composition very jealously.
PINION—The smaller of two toothed wheels that work together. The teeth
of a pinion are called leaves. See also _Lantern Pinion_.
[Illustration]
PINION, LANTERN—A pinion consisting of two circular metal plates joined
by short steel wires.
PITCH—The length of the arc of the circumference of the pitch circle
from center to center of two adjacent teeth.
PITCH CIRCLE—The geometrical circle traced with the center of the
wheel as its center and at which the curved tips of the teeth begin.
The diameter is proportional to the number of teeth determined upon.
The proportion of the pitch circles of a wheel and a pinion gearing
together is determined by the ratio of revolutions desired.
PITKIN, HENRY—With his brother, James F., he started at Hartford,
Conn., in 1838, the first factory for machine-made watches in the
United States. They made their own machinery, which was very crude.
After making about 800 watches they were forced to abandon the project,
being unable to compete with cheap foreign watches. He died in 1845.
PIVOTS—The ends of the rotating arbors in a watch that run in bearings.
PLANETARIUM—An astronomical clock which exhibits the relative motions
and positions of the members of the solar system. Has no regulating
system and usually no driving power but is run by turning a crank by
hand.
PLATES—In watches and small clocks the circular discs of brass to which
the mechanism of the watch is supported. In large clocks the plates are
usually square-cornered oblong. See _Pillar Plate_, _Top Plate_, _Half
Plate_, _Full Plate_, etc. In half-plate, and three-quarter-plate types
of watches part of the disc is cut away.
POCKET CHRONOMETER—A watch with a chronometer escapement.
POLOS—A basin in the center of which the perpendicular staff or gnomon
was erected, and marked by lines for the twelve portions of the sun-lit
day. Herodotus ascribes its invention to the Babylonians, Phavorinus
claims it for Anaximander and Pliny for Anaximenes. Also called
"Heliotropion."
POTANCE OR POTENCE—A vertical or hang down bracket, supporting the
lower end of the balance staff in full-plate watches.
PRESCOT—A town in a remote part of Lancashire for years the center of
the movement trade in England.
PUSH PIECE—1. The milled knob pushed in from the pendant to open the
case. 2. The boss pushed in when the watch is to be set.
QUARE, DANIEL—1649-1724—Claimed the invention of the repeater, and
backed by the Clockmakers' Company obtained the patent against Barlow
from James II. Also credited with the invention of equation clocks.
He was master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1708. He first used the
concentred minute hand in England, but Huyghens had preceded him in
this in the Netherlands.
QUARTER—1. A term in common use for the period of three months—a
quarter of the year. 2. The fourth part of an hour—15 minutes.
QUICK TRAIN—A watch movement balance vibrates 18,000 times per hour.
Unequal mainspring pull is less felt in the quick train. Used
generally in Switzerland and America, and a feature of practically all
modern watches.
RACK—A straight bar, or segment of a circle, with teeth along one edge.
It has a reciprocating motion.
"RADIOLITE"—Trade name adopted by Robt. H. Ingersoll & Bro. for their
watches having black faced dials with luminous hands and numerals.
Composed of a substance in which genuine radium is used in minute
proportions.
RADIUS OF GYRATION—The distance from the center of gyration to the axis
of rotation.
RAMSEY, DAVIS—One of the earliest British watchmakers of renown. He was
appointed "keeper of clocks and watches" to James I, and appears to
have retained his appointments after the death of the latter. He was
the first master of the Clockmakers' Company tho he seems to have taken
little active part in the management thereof. Scott introduces him into
his story—"The Fortunes of Nigel" as a Keeper of a shop a few yards
east of Temple Bar. Without doubt he was the leading clockmaker of his
day. He died in 1655.
RATCHET—The pawl, or dog, which engages in the teeth of a ratchet wheel
and prevents it from turning backward. It is held lightly against the
periphery of the ratchet wheel by a small spring known as the ratchet
spring.
[Illustration]
RATCHET WHEEL—A wheel with triangular teeth fixed on to an arbor to
prevent the latter from turning backward. The fronts of the teeth are
radial, the backs straight lines running from the tip of one tooth to
the base of the next. In going-barrel, keyless watches the ratchet has
epicycloidal teeth. By "the ratchet" in a watch, chronometer or clock
with mainspring is meant the ratchet fastened to the barrel arbor to
prevent the mainspring from slipping back when it is being wound.
RECOIL—In recoil escapements the pallets not only stop the escape wheel
but actually turn it backward a slight distance. This backward motion
is called the recoil.
REGULATOR—1. A standard clock with compensated pendulum with which less
accurate movements are compared. 2. The lever in a watch by which the
curb-pins regulating the swing of the hairspring are shifted.
REMONTOIRE—An arrangement in the upper part of the going train by
which a weak spring is wound up or a small weight is lifted that
gives impulse to the escape wheel at short intervals. Its use is to
counteract the irregularities in impulse due to the coarse train, etc.
They are delicate and complicated and now superseded by the Double
Three-legged Gravity Escapement.
REPEATER—A striking watch or clock which by the pulling of a string
or the pressing of a button could be made to repeat the last hour and
part hour, struck. In vogue during the 18th century. Credit for the
invention was disputed by Daniel Quare and Edward Barlow. James II gave
the decision in favor of Quare whose mechanism was a trifle simpler.
REPOUSSE—A kind of chasing in which the metal is punched or pressed
from the back bringing the design into higher relief than by the usual
method of indenting.
[Illustration]
RING-DIAL—See _Sun-dial_, _Portable_.
RICHARD, DANIEL JEAN—A Swiss watchmaker, born at La Sagne in 1665. At
fifteen a watch having come into his hands, he constructed a similar
one unaided. That was the first watch made in Neuchatel. After a
time in Geneva he set up business in La Sagne, afterwards moving to
Locle. He created the watch industry of Neuchatel and saw it grow to a
neighborhood of five hundred workers. He died at Locle 1741. In 1888 a
bronze statue was erected to him there.
ROBBINS, ROYAL E.—Born in Connecticut 1824. He was essentially one
of the "fathers" of American watchmaking because it was through his
financing and clever management that the first watch company finally
succeeded in making a financial success.
ROLLER—The circular plate in a lever escapement, into which the ruby
pin is set.
ROLLER-JEWEL—Same as "impulse pin."
ROMAN INDICTION—A period of fifteen years appointed by the Emperor
Constantine 312 A. D. for the payment of certain taxes.
ROSE ENGINE—A lathe in which the rotary movement of the mandrel is
combined with a lateral, reciprocating movement of the tool rest; used
for ornamenting the outside cases of watches with involved curved
engraving.
RUBY PIN—The impulse pin in a lever escapement, made of a ruby.
RUBY ROLLER—The roller in a duplex escapement against which the teeth
of the escape wheel are locked.
RUN—In the lever escapement, the extent of the movement of the lever
toward the banking pins after the "drop" on to the locking.
SABINIANUS—Pope from 604 to 606. Said to have invented a clock in 612
A. D., but the clock he is supposed to have built was probably only
another of many forms of clepsydrae, or water clocks.
SAFETY PINION—A center pinion in a going-barrel watch which allows the
recoil of the barrel if the mainspring breaks.
[Illustration]
SAND-GLASS—(CLEPSAMMIA)—A dumb-bell-shaped glass globe containing sand,
and with a small aperture through which the sand flows in a certain
fixed time. The most common form is the hour-glass but many others are
in use as the three-minute glass for boiling eggs, the two-minute glass
used by the British Parliament, etc. Dried and finely powdered eggshell
sometimes used in place of sand. The principle is the same as that of
the simplest form of clepsydra. See _Hour-Glass_.
SANDOZ AND TROT—A firm which established the first watch factory in
Switzerland in 1804. Previous to that time watchmaking had been a house
industry.
SECOND—One-sixtieth of a minute: 1-3600 of a mean solar hour.
SECONDARY COMPENSATION—Same as "auxiliary compensation." See
_Auxiliary_.
SECONDS HAND—The hand on the dial of a clock or watch which revolves
once a minute. Sometimes small and set in a small circle of its own.
Sometimes long and traverses the whole dial. See _Center-seconds and
Sweep-seconds_.
SECONDS PIVOT—The prolongation of the fourth wheel arbor to which the
seconds hand of a watch is fixed.
SECONDS, SPLIT—Divided seconds—into quarters, or fifths; measured by a
chronograph.
SHADOW—A darkened space resulting from the interception of light by an
opaque body.
SHAGREEN—Made from the tough skin that covers the crupper of a horse or
ass. Rough seeds are trodden into the skin and then allowed to dry. The
seeds are shaken out and the skin dyed green. Then the rough surface is
rubbed down smooth leaving white spots on the green ground. Also made
from the rough skin of sharks and dolphins. Formerly used a great deal
for the outer cases of watches. See _Pair Cases_.
SHERWOOD, NAPOLEON BONAPARTE—Born in 1823. About 1855 he entered
the watchmaking business in the employ of the Waltham Watch Co. He
revolutionized jeweling methods and invented among other things a
"Counter-sinker," "End-shake tools," "Truing-up tools" and "Opener."
In 1864 he organized the Newark Watch Company but within a few months
severed his connection with it. He died in 1872.
SIDEREAL TIME—The standard used by astronomers; measured by the diurnal
rotation of the earth, which turns on its axis in 23 hours, 56 minutes,
4.1 seconds. The sidereal day is therefore 3 minutes, 56 seconds
shorter than the mean solar day. Mean time clocks can be regulated with
greater facility by the stars than by the sun for the motion of the
earth with regard to the fixed stars is uniform. Clocks all over the
United States are so regulated from the Naval Observatory at Washington.
SIDE-SHAKE—Freedom of pivots to move sideways. See _End-Shake_.
SLOW TRAIN—A train whose balance vibrates 14,400 times an hour. Now
never used in pocket watches because of susceptibility to inequalities
in the pull of the mainspring, jars, sudden movements, etc. Used,
however, in marine chronometers.
SNAIL—A cam shaped like a snail, used generally for gradually lifting
and suddenly discharging a lever, as in the striking mechanism of
clocks.
SNAILING—A method of ornamenting with circles and bars parts of a watch
movement which it is not desirable to polish highly.
SOLAR TIME—Time marked by the diurnal revolution of the earth with
regard to the sun, of which the midday is the instant at which the sun
appears at its greatest height above the horizon. This instant varies
from twelve o'clock mean time because the earth also advances in its
orbit and its meridians are not perpendicular to the ecliptic.
SPANDRELS—The corners of a square face outside the dial of a clock.
Formerly very beautifully decorated. The age of the clock can be told
approximately from the form of ornamentation employed.
[Illustration]
SPLIT SECONDS—A chronograph in which there are two center-seconds
hands—one under the other—which can be stopped independently of one
another.
SPRING-CLOCKS—Clocks whose driving power is a coiled spring instead of
a weight.
[Illustration]
STACKFREED—The derivation of the word is obscure; it is possibly
Persian. A device to counteract the difference in power of the
mainspring at the different stages of its unwinding. Fixed to the
mainspring arbor above the top plate is a pinion having eight leaves,
which gears with a wheel having twenty-four teeth, which do not quite
fill out the circumference of the wheel. Fastened to the wheel is
a cam, concentric for about seven-eighths of its circumference and
indented for the remainder. Into a groove in the concentric portion
of the edge is pressed a roller which is pivoted at the free end of
a strong curved spring. When the mainspring is fully wound the roller
rests in the curved depression of the cam and the effort required to
lift the roller up the incline absorbs some of the mainspring's power.
On the other hand when the mainspring is nearly run down, the roller
is descending an inclined plane and absorbs less of the power. Not an
acceptable device and now rarely met with.
STEM-WINDING—The ordinary method of winding keyless watches by means of
a stem running through the pendant.
STOP WORK—An arrangement for preventing the overwinding of a mainspring
or a clock weight.
_Stratton, N. P._—One of the early watchmakers connected with American
manufacture. He was an apprentice of the Pitkin Bros., and was sent by
the Waltham Company to England in 1852 to learn gilding and etching.
He was made assistant superintendent of the Waltham Co. in 1857. He
invented a mainspring barrel and a hair-spring stud which were later
adopted by the Waltham Company.
STRIKING-WORK—The part of a clock's mechanism devoted to striking. The
chief forms are _Rack_, and _Locking-plate_, or _Count-wheel_. See
separate articles.
STRIKING-WORK, LOCKING-PLATE, OR COUNT-WHEEL—Used in turret clocks
where there is no occasion for the repeating movement. This form of
striking work does not allow of the repetition or omission of the
striking of any hour without making the next one wrong.
STRIKING-WORK—RACK—A form of striking work used largely in house
clocks; the number of blows to be struck depends merely on the position
of a wheel attached to the going part. In this form the striking of any
horn may be omitted or repeated without deranging the following strikes.
STUD—1. A small piece of metal pierced to receive the outer or upper
coil of a balance spring. 2. The holder of the fusee stop-work. 3. Any
fixed holder used in a watch or clock, not otherwise named, is called a
stud.
STYLE—The finger or gnomon on a sun-dial whose shadow, falling on the
plate, indicates the time.
SULLY, HENRY—An English watchmaker of the early eighteenth century who
lived most of his life in France. He presented the French Academy with
a marine timekeeper superior to the timepieces of the period, and a
memoir describing it. He died shortly afterward and advance in the art
was delayed.
SUN-DIAL—A device for telling time by the shadow of a style, cast by
the sun, as thrown upon a disk or plate marked with the hour lines.
Dials were named from their positions—equinoctial or equatorial; east;
erect or vertical; horizontal; inclining, etc., or from their purpose
or method of use, as portable, reflecting, etc., or as in the case of
the ring-dial, from their form. The word is derived from the Latin
_dies_. The style in the earliest dials was a vertical staff, but later
it was found that reasonable accuracy could only be obtained by a style
set parallel to the earth's axis—that is, inclined to the horizontal at
the angle of latitude of the locality in which the dial was set.
Even before the first astronomical discoveries of the Babylonians,
people had felt some need of a convenient device to mark and measure
the passing of the time, especially the shorter divisions of recurring
time, the time of day. Sunrise and sunset marked themselves by
the horizon, but noon was harder to determine, and the points of
mid-morning and mid-afternoon harder still. And with the knowledge of
those regular movements in the heavens which determine time on earth,
and with the closer division of the day into its hours, that need
became a sheer necessity.
The obvious measure of the sun's movements was the moving shadow
cast by the sun itself. And the earliest device for recording time
was naturally the sun-dial. Its origin fades into the twilight of
antiquity. Long before we know anything about him, primitive man
measured the moving shadow of some tree. And it occurred to him to
set up a post or pillar in some convenient place, and mark out the
positions into which the shadow swung. The earliest sun-dials were
of this pattern, with a vertical pointer of _gnomon_, and the hours
marked upon the ground. And it is related of the early Greeks that
they told the time individually by marking and measuring the length of
their own shadows. But the measure of time by the length of a shadow
is very irregular at best, because of the yearly motion of the sun.
The shortest shadow of the day will indeed fall at noon. But that
noon shadow will vary in length according as the sun's noon is high
in Summer or low in Winter; and so the whole scale of lengths will
be different for every day in the year. If a three foot shadow means
mid-afternoon today, it will mean quite another time tomorrow. And for
measuring by the _direction of the_ shadow, the vertical gnomon is more
irregular still. For the swing of the shadow would depend not only upon
the sun's motion across the sky from East to West, but also upon his
slant North and South along the sky. And this would change from day to
day. The difficulty was to make a dial of which the shadow would move
as regularly as the sun moves.
[Illustration: ANCIENT GREEK HEMICYCLE]
This the ancients accomplished in a very simple and ingenious way. The
sun moves in the sky as it were upon the inner surface of a hollow
globe or sphere. So they made the dial a little hemisphere, place with
its hollow side up toward the sky as a bowl stands on a table. The
pointer was placed above and to the South of this, on the side toward
the sun; and the Time was marked by the shadow of the tip end of the
pointer which was a little ball or bead. The path of this shadow across
the bowl reproduced exactly on a small scale the path of the sun across
the great bowl of the heavens. And it was then an easy matter to mark
off the bowl into equal divisions which the shadow would cross at equal
intervals of the day. Of course, the track of the shadow changed with
the season of the year. But it moved always as the sun moved, and just
as regularly, giving a true measure of the solar day.
The principle of this was applied in several interesting variations.
The defect of the Hemicycle, as this hollow type of dial was called,
was that it could not be read accurately for short intervals. A shadow
moving only a few inches in the whole day must move so slowly that one
could hardly see it move at all. To mark the minutes, it must move
faster, just as the minute hand of your watch moves faster than the
hour hand, and the second hand faster still. One cannot read seconds
from the hour hand, however accurately it moves, because it moves so
slowly. So the idea was applied by making the shadow move across a
street or courtyard, down one side and across and up the other side,
as the sun opposite went up and across and down the sky. Sometimes
the place was partly roofed over, and a single beam of light admitted
through a small hole at the South end. The resulting spot of light
would then move in the same way. The long sunbeam or shadow moved
faster, and so could be read at shorter intervals. The Hemicycle is not
certainly known to have been invented until long after this, about B.
C. 350. But the principle of it is so simple and so entirely such as
would occur to an intelligent man still ignorant of its mathematical
explanation, that we may not unreasonably suppose it to have been
discovered by experiments long before.
[Illustration: ANCIENT ROMAN HEMICYCLE]
The final improvement of the sundial was the discovery that by slanting
the gnomon so that it pointed exactly toward the North Pole of the
sky, the direction of its shadow could be made to show the solar time
correctly. Since the sky is infinitely far away, the line of the gnomon
would then lie parallel to the axis of the heavens. And the sun, moving
parallel to the celestial Equator, would always move straight across
the gnomon. In other words, he would practically revolve around its
sloping edge. Therefore the North and South motion of the sun would be
as it were along the edge of the gnomon, and would not influence the
direction of the shadow at all. His East and West motion alone would
govern the swing of the shadow; and the dial would keep true time with
the sun for every day in the year. There was no longer any necessity
for hollowing out the dial itself into the concave form; it might just
as well be the more convenient flat surface, and this might be either
vertical or horizontal, so long as the gnomon pointed straight to the
Celestial Pole. All that was needed was to mark out on the dial the
true direction in which the shadow fell for each hour of the day.
[Illustration: OLD ENGLISH DIAL]
Just when or by whom the instrument was thus scientifically perfected
is not known. The calculations necessary to the projection of the hour
lines upon a flat surface could hardly have been performed before Greek
times. The Greeks ascribed the invention of the sundial to Anaximander,
in the sixth century B. C., but sundials of various types had been
known in various parts of the world long before then. On the other
hand, the Hemicycle remained the common form of the instrument all
through the classic period and even afterwards. The Babylonians were
quite capable of understanding the principle of the sloping gnomon. And
once this was discovered, it would have been entirely practical to set
up the new dial beside a Hemicycle or Clepsydra, and find the angles of
the hour lines by experiment. These, once laid out correctly, would be
determined once for all. Even at its best the sundial had certain very
marked limitations. Scientifically constructed, it would keep accurate
time according to the visible sun. But it could not be read accurately
unless made inconveniently large. It was inaccurate when removed
from its original latitude, or displaced from a true North and South
position; so that in any portable form it became a very rough measure
indeed. Moreover, it was of course entirely useless at night or in bad
weather or in shadow. And finally, it was never absolutely exact under
the most ideal conditions, because of what is known as the Equation of
Time. The Earth does not, in fact, move around the sun at an absolutely
regular rate of speed; it moves a trifle faster during certain parts of
the year and slower at others. The sun therefore varies correspondingly
his apparent speed along the Ecliptic, so that even from noon to noon
the sun is not always precisely on time. He may be as much as fifteen
minutes late or early, according to the season. And our modern days are
measured according to the sun's average rate, so as to allow for this
variation and keep every day exactly twenty-four hours long. This of
course no sun-dial can possibly be made to do, since it must follow the
actual sun.
The sun-dial has remained in use to the present day. It seems strange
to think of a sun-dial being used as a standard for setting clocks and
actually to regulate the running of trains. But these things were done
in civilized Europe within the last half century. It was only when the
railroad and the telegraph had made standard time at once necessary
and easy to obtain that the sun-dial altogether lost its position of
authority.
SUN-DIALS, DESCRIPTIONS—Classical sun-dials were of many forms.
Vitruvius, the Roman engineer, mentions thirteen, some of them
portable; and ascribes the invention of the Hemicycle to the Babylonian
astronomer and priest, Berosus. There was a famous dial of this type
at the base of Cleopatra's Needle in Egypt. It is now at the British
Museum. And the Emperor Augustus, returning from his Egyptian wars,
brought home to Rome an obelisk which he set up as the gnomon of a
huge dial in the Campus Martius. At Athens there was the famous Tower
of the Winds; octagonal in shape, with a weather vane above, and below
around the tower, the hours and the winds, to each of which the Greeks
gave a personality and a name. There is a curious bit of accidental
poetry in the marking of the sun-dial in Greece. The Greek numerals,
like the Roman, were simply the letters of their alphabet arranged in a
certain order. The hot hours of the day from noon to four o'clock were
those commonly devoted by the Greeks to rest and recreation. Reckoning
the day from sunrise, this period ran from the sixth hour through the
ninth. And the numeral letters for Six, Seven, Eight and Nine, which
marked those hours upon the dial, spell out the Greek word ΖἩΟΙ, the
imperative of the verb to _live_. The poet Lucian thus points the moral:
Six hours to labor, four to leisure give;
In them—so say the dialled hours—LIVE.
The shepherds of the Pyrenees still consult their pocket dials. And the
Turk makes a sun-dial of his two hands by holding them up with the tips
of the thumbs joined horizontally and the forefingers extended upward;
so that the shadow of one forefinger falls toward the other and by its
position roughly indicates the time. But even now, when it has nearly
gone from practical use, the sun-dial, as an appropriate adornment of
our public parks and our private gardens, is becoming increasingly
fashionable in our own generation.
[Illustration: OLD FRENCH WALL DIAL]
Sun-dials are common in almost all parts of the world, and not a few
of them have in one way or another become famous. The largest is at
Jaipur in India, and was erected about 1730. Its gnomon is ninety
feet high and one hundred and forty-seven feet long. A flight of
stone steps run up the slope of it, and at the top there is a sort of
little watch-tower. And the shadow, which falls upon a great stone
quadrant instead of upon a flat surface, moves at the rate of two and
a half inches a minute. Another great dial is the so-called Calendar
Stone of Mexico, which was made by the Aztec priests more than a
hundred years before the Spaniards came. It weighs nearly fifty tons,
and is not only a sun-dial but a representation of the zodiac and a
diagram of the astronomical changes of the year: thus showing that
the ancient Mexicans in their own way paralleled the astrology of the
Babylonians on the other side of the world. Probably the most expensive
and elaborate sun-dial ever built was the one set up in 1669 by King
Charles II of England in front of the banqueting house at White Hall in
London. It was in the form of a tall pyramid on which were two hundred
and seventy-one different dials, giving not only the hour of the day
but various astronomical and geographical indications as well. The
place called Seven Dials in London takes its name from a tall pillar
with sun-dials around its top which used to stand at the junction
of seven streets radiating starwise from that spot as a center. The
pillar was overthrown in 1773 by a party of vandals digging for buried
treasure which they believed to have been hidden beneath its base.
Extensive list, descriptions and illustrations, See Book of Sun-dials,
Mrs. Alfred Gatty; Sun-dials and Roses, Mrs. Alice Morse Earle.
[Illustration: OLD ENGLISH PILLAR DIAL]
SUN-DIALS, GREEK—1. Diogenes asserts that the first Greek dial or
gnomon was erected by Anaximander of Miletus. It was probably a
vertical rod on a horizontal plane. This was two centuries after the
Dial of Ahaz. 2. On the "Tower of the Winds" in Athens—a dial on each
face.
SUN-DIAL, HOLLOW—A form of sun-dial invented by the Chaldean Berosus. A
hollow hemisphere with a bead at its center, whose shadow indicated the
hour of the day.
SUN-DIAL, MOTTOES—On nearly all sun-dials both ancient and modern there
there is inscribed a motto—usually of the moral significance of the
passage of time.
Very ancient also, as well as equally common in modern times is the
custom of placing upon the sun-dial some appropriate motto expressive
of the mystery of Time. There are hundreds of such mottoes, ranging in
sentiment from the old Roman one: _Horas non numero nisi Serenas_. "I
number no hours but the fair ones," to the couplet of a modern poet:
"Time flies, you say? Ah no,
Alas! Time stays; we go."
And these two thoughts, expressed in many forms, represent fairly the
tenor of most of them. There is a story of a lazy apprentice asking a
motto for his dial, to whom his master sharply replied: "Begone about
your business!" and the fellow, appropriately enough, took that for
the motto required. It is at least a familiar sentiment, especially
in Puritan times; and equally so during the Middle Ages is that more
mystic suggestion, _Umbra Dei_—"the Shadow of God."
[Illustration]
SUN-DIAL, PORTABLE—Made in different shapes and upon different plans
small enough to carry about. The most common form was the ring dial,
consisting of a metal ring with a hole in it through which the light
fell upon an inside ring adjustable to the day and month. It required
careful orienting to be dependable as a time-indicator.
SUN-DIALS, ROMAN—The first dial in Rome was set up B. C. 293 near the
temple of Quirinus by Papirius Cursor. It served ninety-nine years;
then one more accurate was set up beside it. Before that, no time
was noted except the rising and setting of the sun. Emperor Augustus
erected a dial at Campus Martius. A dial captured in Sicily during the
first Punic war was set up in the Forum about 263 B. C. and used for
years before they learned that it was inaccurate in that latitude,
being designed for the latitude of Sicily.
SUNK-SECONDS—A dial in which the seconds circle is sunk below the rest
of the dial. It allows the hour hand to be placed closer to the face
thus making a thinner model possible.
SUPPLEMENTARY ARC—See: "Lifting Arc."
SWEEP-SECONDS—See: _Center-Seconds_.
TABLE ROLLER—The roller of a lever escapement which carries the impulse
pin.
TELL-TALE CLOCK—A clock by which a record is left of periodical visits
of some one as a night-watchman.
TEMPLATE OR TIMPLET—One of the four facets that surround a cut gem.
TENON—A projection at the end of a piece cut to fit into a
corresponding mortise.
TERRY, ELI—The first man to make clocks by machinery in America. When
it was learned that he planned to make two hundred clocks he was much
laughed at. He was born at East Windsor, Conn., in 1772. His first
clocks were made by hand, the movements being of wood. He was the
leading maker of wooden clocks in America. He invented the shelf clock
which contained distinctly new inventions and he introduced the pillar
scroll-top case. He was a mechanical genius and contributed a great
deal to developing clock-making in America into a great industry. He
died in 1852.
THIRD WHEEL—The wheel in the train between the center wheel and the
fourth wheel.
THALES—A celebrated Ionian astronomer, one of the Seven Sages of
Greece. He was born about 640 B. C., and is credited by Herodotus with
having predicted an eclipse of the sun occurring about 609 B. C. He was
the author of several solutions of geometrical problems. He died about
550 B. C.
THOMAS, SETH—Born at Wolcott, Conn., 1785. A very successful clockmaker
who contributed probably more than any other man toward popularizing
the modern cheap clock. The Seth Thomas Clock Co., of today, he started
in 1813 with twenty operatives. By 1853 it had nine hundred. He died in
1859.
THREE-QUARTER PLATE—A three-quarter plate watch is one in which there
is a piece cut out from the top plate large enough to permit the
balance to rotate on a level with that plate. It is the most common
form at present in use in both cheap and high grade watches, and found
in both "pillar" and "bridge" models.
TIME-CANDLES—Candles in alternate black and white sections were used to
mark the passage of time in Europe and Asia for a long time. In England
and France they were used to limit the bidding at an auction. The
phrase "by inch of candle" meant that the one bidding when the flame
expired was the successful bidder. King Alfred is said to have used
time-candles and to have inclosed them in thin horn plates to protect
them from drafts, thus originating the lantern.
[Illustration]
TIMEKEEPER—Any device primarily concerned with measuring and indicating
the sub-divisions of the day.
TOMPION, THOMAS—"The father of English Watchmaking." Born 1638. He
was the leading watchmaker at the court of Charles II. He found the
construction of the time-keeping part of watches in a very indifferent
condition and he left English clocks and watches the finest in the
world, although many great improvements were made after his time. He
associated closely with such scientists as Hooke, and Barlow, and made
practical application of their theories—two notable instances being
the cylinder escapement and the balance-spring. Tompion was the first
to number his watches consecutively for the purpose of identification
though he did not so mark his early ones. There is a famous clock in
the pumproom at Bath, England, of Tompion's construction. Little is
known of his domestic life but he appears to have been unmarried. He
died in 1713 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. Tompion was master of
the Worshipful Clockmakers' Company in 1704.
TOP PLATE—The plate in a watch farthest from the dial. In full plate
watches it is circular; in three-quarter plate or half-plate watches a
part is cut away.
[Illustration]
TOWER OF THE WINDS—An octagonal tower north of the Acropolis of Athens
spoken of as horological by Vario and Vitruvius. Believed to have had
a sundial on each of its eight faces and to have contained a clepsydra
fed by a spring.
TRAIN—The toothed wheels of a watch or clock which connect the barrel
or fusee with the escapement. In a going-barrel watch the teeth about
the barrel drive the center pinion which drives the center wheel and
then in turn the third wheel pinion, third wheel, fourth wheel pinion
and fourth wheel, escape pinion and escape wheel.
TRIPPING—The running past the pallet's locking face, of an escape wheel
tooth.
VACHERON AND CONSTANTIN—In 1840 established the first _complete_ watch
factory in Switzerland. Not until later, however, was motor power used
instead of foot-power; and later still manufacture by machinery. The
work in this factory is carried on under a combination of all accepted
methods.
VAILLY, DOM—A Benedictine monk of about 1690 who made a water clock
which Beckmann says was the first to be constructed on a really
scientific principle. See _Clocks, Interesting Old—Vailly's_.
VAN DER WOERD, CHARLES—A prominent man in connection with watch
manufacturing in this country. In 1864 he invented an automatic pinion
cutter; in 1874 an automatic screw machine. From 1876-1883 he was
superintendent of the Waltham factory.
VERGE—The pallet axis of the verge escapement. See diagram of Verge
Escapement. It carries the balance at its top.
VERGE WATCH—A watch with a verge escapement.
VICK, HENRY DE. See _De Vick_.
VOLUTE—A flat spiral.
VOLUTE-SPRING—A flat metallic spring coiled in a spiral conical form
and compressible in the direction of its axis.
WALLINGFORD, RICHARD—An English mechanic and astronomer of the
fourteenth century. He made a clock which is supposed to have been the
first that was regulated by a fly-wheel. Several authorities, however,
claim that Wallingford's "clock" was actually a planetarium.
WALTHAM—A town in Massachusetts—the site of the first successful watch
factory in America. At present a great watch making center.
WATCH—In modern parlance, a small timepiece to carry about on the
person. Formerly a timepiece which _showed_ time in distinction to
clock which _struck_ time. Derham (1734) uses the term to indicate all
timepieces driven by springs. The term may have been derived from the
Swedish _vacht_, German _wachen_, or Saxon _woecca_. The spaces of time
between the fillings of a clepsydra were also called "watches."
WATCH COLLECTIONS—For list of principal collections, past and present,
see Jewelers' Circular files August to December 1915. List compiled by
Major Paul M. Chamberlain of Chicago. For list of principal present
collections, see Appendix to this volume derived from the Chamberlain
Compilation.
WATCHMAKERS' SCHOOLS—American. In America these schools usually teach
watch-repairing and not the making of watches. Some of them offer
courses in making watches but few pupils avail themselves of these
courses. List of: De Selins Watch School, Attica, Ind.; Detroit
Technical Institute—Detroit, Mich.; Kansas City Watchmaking and
Engraving School, Kansas City, Mo.; Needles Institute of Watchmaking,
Kansas City, Mo.; Bowman Technical School, Lancaster, Pa.; Ries and
Armstrong, Macon, Ga.; Drexler School for Watchmaking, Milwaukee, Wis.;
Newark Watchmaking School, Newark, N. J.; Philadelphia College of
Horology, Philadelphia, Pa.; St. Louis Watchmaking School, St. Louis,
Mo.; Schwartzman's Trade Schools, San Francisco, Cal.; Stone School
of Watchmaking, St. Paul, Minn.; Waltham Horological School, Waltham,
Mass.; Bradley Polytechnic Institute, Peoria, Ill.
WATCHMAKERS' SCHOOLS, SWITZERLAND—Usually under government management.
Teach very thoroughly and completely the art of making a watch from the
beginning.
WATCH-PAPERS—During the 18th century it was a fad in England and
America to carry small round papers, which exactly fitted the case of a
watch. On these were portraits and verses, the latter of doubtful merit
and usually of sinister or gloomy significance.
WATERBURY—A town in Connecticut long a center of clock and watch making
in America. Home of the original Waterbury watch. Location of principal
factory of Robt. H. Ingersoll & Bro., manufacturers of the Ingersoll
watches.
WATER-CLOCK—Any device, as a clepsydra, for measuring time by the fall
or flow of water. More commonly applied to the type in which wheels are
turned by water or in such as those in which water sets machinery of
some form in motion as _Vailly's water-clock_. See _Clock, Vailly's_.
WICK TIMEKEEPER—A wick or rope made of some fiber resembling flax or
hemp with knots tied at regular intervals and so treated that upon
ignition it would smolder instead of breaking into flame. Early in use
in Japan and China. Time was estimated by the burning between the knots.
WIECK, HENRY DE—See _De Vick_.
WILLARD, AARON—Born 1757. Probably learned his trade from his older
brothers Simon and Benjamin. He made tall, and shelf clocks, later
banjo clocks—so-called from their shape—gallery clocks, and regulators.
A better business man than his brothers and successful from the start.
His clocks did not lack decorative merit but were inferior to Simon
Willard's. He made a greater number than his brother because more
successful in a business way.
WILLARD, BENJAMIN—Older brother of Simon and Aaron Willard. Among the
first of American clockmakers. Born 1743. Made, probably, only tall
clocks with handsome cases and some with musical attachments. Not so
good as the clocks of Aaron and Simon Willard but older and rarer now.
WILLARD, SIMON—Born at Grafton, Mass., 1753. One of the earliest
Massachusetts clock makers who disputed the claim of the Connecticut
makers for the credit of revolutionizing the clock industry in America.
So far as cases go they excelled Terry, Thomas, and others. But to the
Connecticut makers belongs the credit for having developed clock making
into a great industry. Willard at first made eight-day tall clocks
and shelf clocks, later wall clocks which he called "time pieces." In
1802 he practically abandoned the making of tall clocks, and confined
himself to his "time pieces" and special orders for tower and gallery
clocks. For a detailed list of his productions see his Biography by
John Ware Willard. He was an intimate friend of Jefferson, Madison and
other leading men of the time. Died 1848.
WORSHIPFUL CLOCKMAKERS' COMPANY OF LONDON, THE—Incorporated August 22,
1631, under special charter by King Charles I of England. Was given the
sole privilege of regulating the watch and clock trade in and for ten
miles around London.
WEBSTER, AMBROSE—Mechanical superintendent, and later assistant
superintendent, of the Waltham factory until his resignation in 1876.
He systematized the work in the shop, standardized the measuring
system, and forced automatic machinery to the front. He designed the
first watch factory lathe with hard spindles and bearings of the two
taper variety. He made the first interchangeable standard for parts
of lathes. He invented many machines now in use, among them being the
automatic pinion cutter.
WEIGHT-CLOCK—A clock whose driving power is a weight suspended by a
cord wound on a drum or cylinder.
WEIGHTS—The first clocks were made with a weight on a cord which was
wound around a cylinder connected with the train. The weight descending
caused the cylinder to revolve, setting the train in motion. Too rapid
unwinding was prevented by the escapement. The weight as a driving
power is still used, especially in large clocks.
WHEEL, COUNT—The wheel carrying the locking-plate in a striking
mechanism.
YEAR—Astronomically, the period of time occupied by the earth in
making one complete revolution around the sun. The calendar year is an
arbitrarily determined division of time, approximating more or less
closely the astronomical year. See _Calendar, Gregorian_.
ZECH, JACOB—Of Prague. Invented the fusee about 1525. The Society of
Antiquaries possesses an example of his handiwork—a table time-piece
with a circular brass-gilt case 9¾" in diameter and 5" high. For minute
description see Archaeologia vol. xxxiii.
ZERO—A time-telling term originating or at least made common during the
Great War. Word commonly used in a military sense to indicate a secret
instant of time from which an attack in its various stages is scheduled.
ZODIAC—An imaginary belt 16 degrees in width, spread equally on both
sides of the ecliptic (q. v.). It is divided into twelve sections
or "signs" which receive their distinguishing names from the twelve
principal constellations within the belt. That is how the Babylonians
learned to tell the time by looking at the sun and the stars. Only
their whole problem was vastly complicated by the daily rotation of
the earth on its axis, which of course makes the whole sky seem to
turn in the opposite direction day by day. The earth turns in the same
direction that it goes round the sun, from West to East. So the heavens
turn apparently from East to West, while the annual motion, as we saw
just now by the illustration of the clock face, appears in its true
direction, Eastward. Also, the great clock of the sky is not from our
point of view horizontal, but stood up on edge; and not straight up and
down even, but slanted at an angle. So its apparent movements are as it
were in several directions at once, and the effect is very confusing.
The real motions as they actually do occur are very much simpler and
easier to understand. But of these the Babylonians had no idea. They
knew only what they could see; and it is all the more wonderful that
they contrived to reason out so much and so correctly.
[Illustration]
They mapped out a belt or zone around the sky, with the Ecliptic
along the middle of it. This they divided into twelve equal parts
of thirty degrees each, called Signs or Houses, and each containing
a constellation. These constellations were in order, _Aries_ or the
Ram; _Taurus_ or the Bull; _Gemini_ or the Twins; _Cancer_ or the
Crab; _Leo_ or the Lion; _Virgo_ or the Virgin; _Libra_ or the Scales;
_Scorpio_ or the Scorpion; _Sagittarius_ or the Archer; _Capricornus_
or the Goat; _Aquarius_ or the Water-Carrier; and _Pisces_ or the
Fishes. We know these by their Latin names, and the whole zone by
its Greek name of The Zodiac. But their original titles were much
the same, only in a different language. The sun went through one of
these constellations each month; and by his position along the Zodiac
they told the time of year. Thus the Spring Equinox was where the sun
entered the House of the Ram; and that was for the ancients the first
day of the new year. The House of the Crab was farthest North, and when
the sun got there it was midsummer. The Autumn Equinox was in the House
of the Scales; and when the sun reached the House of the Goat, he would
be at the Southern or Winter end of his journey. Moreover, since the
Moon and the Planets always keep close to the Ecliptic, their apparent
motions all lie within the Zodiacal zone. And the Zodiac therefore
represented the most important part of the heavens from the standpoint
of keeping time; the part, that is, wherein all of those bodies which
moved among the stars month by month and day by day appeared to have
their motions.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.