Timekeeping is the measurement and recording of the passage of time, and in the antiques world it describes the long history of devices made for that purpose. These range from sundials, sand glasses and water clocks to mechanical clocks, watches, chronometers and regulators, and later electric timepieces.
Mechanical clocks controlled by a verge escapement and foliot appeared in Europe in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, initially in churches and monasteries. The application of the pendulum to clocks by Christiaan Huygens in 1656 brought a dramatic improvement in accuracy, followed by the anchor escapement and, in England, the deadbeat escapement associated with George Graham. The balance spring transformed watches, and the marine chronometer made accurate timekeeping possible at sea. In the nineteenth century, the railways encouraged national standard time in Britain, and Greenwich Mean Time was adopted for legal purposes in 1880. Collectors explore timekeeping through longcase and bracket clocks, carriage clocks, pocket watches and scientific instruments, valuing accuracy, quality of movement, originality and the reputation of the maker. Understanding this history helps in dating clocks and appreciating the technical achievement behind them.
