HSNY Announces "Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction" Presented by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo

Online July 6 -11

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces today “Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction”, presented online by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo from July 6-11, 2023.

HSNY’s annual charity auction, whose sale proceeds benefit the Society’s ongoing mission of advancing the art and science of horology, will feature a variety of wristwatches, a wall clock, and a set of signed books from top watchmaking brands. A ‘No Reserve’ policy will apply to all lots, encouraging auction-goers to bid generously.

Lot items from “Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction” include:

  • LOT 1 — F.P.Journe Signed Books. A collection of six brand new and highly coveted books on independent watchmaking, all signed personally by François-Paul Journe. Generously donated by F.P.Journe.

  • LOT 2 — H. Moser & Cie. “Streamliner” Wall Clock. A brand new Aluminum Quartz “Streamliner” Wall Clock. Generously donated by H. Moser & Cie.

  • LOT 3 — Oris: Big Crown Calibre 473. A brand new stainless steel wristwatch with blue lacquer dial, date, five-day power reserve, warranty and presentation box. Generously donated by Oris.

  • LOT 4 — NOMOS Glashütte: Tangomat GMT Plus Glass Back. A brand new stainless steel world time wristwatch with GMT indicator, date, warranty card, setting pin and presentation box. Generously donated by NOMOS Glashütte.

  • LOT 5 — Jaeger-LeCoultre: Reverso Classic Medium Thin. A brand new stainless steel reversible wristwatch with warranty and presentation box, and complimentary personalization on the reverse side of the case through Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Engraving Services. Generously donated by Jaeger-LeCoultre.

  • LOT 6 — Laurent Ferrier: Bridge One. A brand new stainless steel rectangular-shaped wristwatch with certificate and presentation box. Generously donated by Laurent Ferrier. 

“We’re excited to be offering six incredible lots for our 2023 auction,” said Carolina Navarro, HSNY Deputy Director. “Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the talents of Phillips, we hope to raise as much money as possible to meet our mission and provide financial aid to watchmaking students.”

Paul Boutros, Phillips’ Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas, adds, “We are honored and delighted to once again support HSNY’s efforts that continue to advance watchmaking science and culture in the United States. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of each watch, including Phillips’ buyers’ premium, will benefit HSNY’s educational programs, scholarships, and watchmaking school awards.”

In April 2023, HSNY held its annual Gala & Awards Ceremony — a tradition that dates back to the Society’s start in 1866 — where Phillips’ Watches Head of Sale & International Specialist, Vice President, Isabella Proia auctioned off the Society’s 2023 lifetime membership card for a record-breaking $20,000. Thanks to the success of last year’s auction, HSNY also awarded $125,000 in financial aid to 20 watchmaking students and four U.S. watchmaking schools during the gala.

Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo will be hosting viewings of “Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction” by appointment only from July 6-11. To schedule an appointment please contact watchesny@phillips.com. Happy bidding!

Download the Phillips app to browse, track, save and bid on “Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction”. Images courtesy of Phillips.

* MEDIA AND PRIVATE PREVIEWS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST *

 
 

About Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo
Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is the watch department at Phillips auction house, dedicated exclusively to the world's finest collectors' watches. Launched in November 2014 by Aurel Bacs and his partner, Livia Russo, the department was established in response to the ever-increasing need for today's collectors to easily access scholarship, guidance and quality across the board. Based in New York, Geneva, London, Hong Kong and Japan, the team of specialists at Phillips Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency and client service. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.In 2019, the auction house opened Phillips PERPETUAL, a private sale program with physical and digital storefronts that offers a highly curated selection of watches sold at fixed prices.

Official website: www.phillips.com/watches 

About the Horological Society of New York
Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world.

Official website: https://hs-ny.org

Reading Time at HSNY: Time Traveling for the Summer

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. 

Whether you’re traveling this summer or opting for a staycation, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) has something horological to satisfy your globetrotting impulses.

Image 1

If you’re in New York City, come by to travel the world through our postcard collection. Most of you are familiar with our books–many of which I’ve highlighted in past posts in the “Reading Time at HSNY” series. But we also have a comprehensive archive of about 1,200 postcards from horological museums and sites all over the world–all courtesy of our generous benefactor, Fortunat Mueller-Maerki! 

Mueller-Maerki, who was raised in Switzerland and moved to the U.S. as an adult, collected these postcards one by one on individual trips and as a leader of horological study tours over several decades. Most of the postcards come from the horological hotbeds you’d expect: Switzerland, England, France, Germany and America. But there are also some surprising locales including Argentina and the Czech Republic.

Interestingly, Mueller-Maerki also amassed vintage postcards that people had already addressed and sent. One of my favorites shows possibly the most famous clock in the world, London’s Big Ben (see images 1-2). It’s not dated, but the one-penny stamp that the postcard writer used dates it from the reign of King Edward VII (1902-1913). A lady named Edith sent this postcard to her friend Blanche in Denver, Colorado (Wilfred Jurgens in the address is the friend’s husband’s name).

Image 2

You might notice that the caption reads “LONDON - The Houses of Parliament. - The Clock Tower.” Big Ben was never officially called Big Ben, and in fact that nickname first referred to the bell inside the tower, rather than the clock. The tower itself was simply known as “the Clock Tower.” Edith doesn’t mention any of these facts in her note. She’s preoccupied with the practicalities of travel (“we sail tomorrow”), health (“we are very well”), and her friends and family back home (“Marjorie sends a kiss to Mary”). She signs the postcard “Lovingly, Edith.” In Edith’s story, the famous clock is just a pretext for her to send her love. I like to imagine her coming back to her friend, a married woman, and telling her breathlessly about the sights and sounds of her overseas adventure. Here at HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library we have an entire section of old and modern books dedicated to Big Ben, so if you want more information than Edith provides, please stop by.

In 1952, a different woman sent a postcard featuring an English clock tower to her married friend in Denver, this time from Buenos Aires (images 3-4). This postcard is in our collection because it features the Torre Monumental, another famous clocktower, at the time known as Torre de los Ingleses ("Tower of the English.") British citizens living in Buenos Aires funded the construction of the tower, hired a British architect, and imported engineers and construction materials to build it. 

Image 3

Image 4

While public clocks are a frequent subject of postcards, a number of our cards show watch factories. Image 5 shows both sides of a postcard from the German town of Schwenningen, “the largest clock city in the world,” according to its caption. The front shows the Kienzle factory in the town, which, among other things, manufactured timing devices for Germany and the Axis powers during World War II.

Image 5

According to the postmark, someone sent this on April 14, 1958. Although the factory depicted is large, it still looks like a fairly traditional building, with its pitched roof and curved eyebrow dormers.

Our American postcards, in contrast, show off the features of the mega-factories of America: Elgin (image 6), Hamilton (image 7) and Waltham (image 8). The Elgin and Waltham images are from the turn of the 20th century, while the Hamilton picture dates from around 1940. Compare the scale of the building above in Germany’s “clock city” in 1958 with the behemoth city-sized factories in America, some of which were built 50 years earlier.

Image 6

Image 7

Image 8

At the beginning of the 20th century, American watch manufacturing was booming, thanks to a series of developments in standardization and mechanization, the “American System”. Below the image of the Waltham factory in Massachusetts, the postcard’s sender has written “Does this look natural?” which could be a private joke, but could also be an ironic remark about how industrialization had changed the area. Although there are still some trees, and the Waltham building is a bit more residential looking, it is not natural at all. It’s the height of technological innovation for the time.

Image 9

Image 9 features a decidedly groovier watch building, the Elgin pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. On the reverse of the card, there's barely enough room for a message from the sender, given all the advertising copy. According to this card, the Elgin Watch Building hosted “a fully equipped astronomical observatory and watch museum…an animated puppet style show” and a service where “watches of visitors are rated for accuracy, without charge.” There’s even a pre-printed “handwritten” message, in cursive, that reads, “P.S. I’ve just seen how time is taken from the stars. It’s exciting. Take my advice and make the Elgin Watch Building the starting point for all your World’s Fair sightseeing. It’s so conveniently located.” That’s a convincing pitch!

Image 10

Even with all this promotional text, the sender of this postcard managed to cram in a message to his “sweetie” that mentions visiting the Empire State Building, seeing the ship the Queen Mary, going to the hottest musical revue on Broadway, “Hellzapoppin”, and visiting a musical swimming show at the World’s Fair, “Billy Rose’s Aquacade” (image 10). An exhausting slate of events for one visit to New York! The writer, named Farley, takes a maximalist approach to the space he’s allotted, unlike Edith, who preferred to save her thoughts on Big Ben to relate in person.

Hopefully these postcards are a reminder to document your journeys, even the mundane ones, since you never know who’s going to be reading about them in the far-off future at some library on Mars. For now, from all of us at HSNY, we hope you have a great summer full of horology, relaxation, and adventure!

HSNY Opens New Exhibit "Pocket Genius: The Watch Collection of Alex Ku"

On Display June — December 2023

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces today the opening of a new exhibit, “Pocket Genius: The Watch Collection of Alex Ku.” The exhibit, which will be on view from June through December 2023, features over 50 timepieces capturing the scope and genius of some of history’s most prominent watchmakers.

Louis Chanson, perpetual calendar

“Pocket Genius” explores the evolution of timepieces ranging from time-only pocket watches to inventive escapements, gem-encrusted cases and highly complicated pieces. 

The exhibit highlights timepieces dating from the 1690s to the 1990s, examining the role that watches have played in society, from their use in navigation and timekeeping to their use as status symbols and works of art. Highlights include a dumb quarter-repeating jump-hour pocket watch by Abraham-Louis Breguet, a co-axial escapement by Charles Fasoldt, complicated timepieces like Louis Chanson’s skeletonized perpetual calendar with a lunar indicator, and enameled masterpieces by Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co. 

Charles Fasoldt, co-axial escapement

The collection is on loan from Alex Ku, a California-based watch aficionado. Although Ku has only been collecting watches for seven years, he has amassed a curated arsenal of some of the most important and impressive watches in horological history.

Abraham-Louis Breguet, c. 1800

Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co., c. 1890

“To carry a pocket watch crafted by a historical master watchmaker is to feel that you hold a piece of horological history in your hand,” said Ku. “For many pieces in my collection, the mission to discover their stories really began only after acquiring them. I’m proud to share pieces from my collection for all to view and learn from, as I have.” 

The exhibit, on display at HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library, is divided into four sections: “Historical Watchmakers,” “Escapements,” “Complications” and “Aesthetics.” Bonus material includes a George Daniels co-axial escapement model, on loan from British independent watchmaker and Daniels protegee Roger W. Smith OBE.

Roger Smith visits the “Pocket Genius” exhibit and poses alongside his George Daniels co-axial escapement model.

“The watches in this exhibit represent the pinnacle of watchmaking craftsmanship and are a testament to the ingenuity of the human mind,” said Nicholas Manousos, HSNY Executive Director. “I extend my sincere thanks to Alex Ku for his vision in collecting important pocket watches and for his enthusiasm in making this exhibit happen.”

The exhibit is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog, which includes macro photography by Atom Moore and Collector Notes from Ku. The catalog is available for purchase in-person and online at hs-ny.org/shop. Proceeds from the sales go towards meeting HSNY’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology.

“Pocket Genius” is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10AM to 5PM. Admission is free. Learn more at https://hs-ny.org/exhibits.

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ABOUT THE HOROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world.

http://hs-ny.org

Welcoming New HSNY Members, April 2023

HSNY would like to welcome the following new members. It is only with our members' support that we are able to continue flourishing as America's oldest watchmaking guild and advancing the art and science of horology every day. 

GOLD

  • David Wertheimer, NY

  • Jeremy Rishel, CA

SILVER

  • Scott Kaplan, NY

BRONZE

  • Alex Nguyen, CA

  • Bartosz Dabrowski, CA

  • BK Kapella, GA

  • Bruce Wiseman, WA

  • Brydon Clark, CA

  • Burton King, NY

  • David Lopez, CT

  • David Riley, NY

  • Eric Jo, NJ

  • Grant Fletcher Oliver, CA

  • Harry Hornby, United Kingdom

  • Hok Hin Chan, Hong Kong

  • Jasdev Singh, NJ

  • Jonathan Smith, CA

  • Matthew J. Short, MO

  • Michael Brown, AL

  • Nicholas Mitchell, MD

  • Nomi Claire Lazar, Canada

  • Robert Anders, NY

  • Sean Sullivan, NY

  • Sebastian Zar, NY

  • Tristan King, NY

  • William Huff, MD

* Upgraded Membership Level

HSNY Welcomes Piaget as a Sponsor

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces Swiss luxury watchmaker Piaget has joined as a sponsor.

Founded in 1874 from his first workshop in La Côte-aux-Fées, Georges-Edouard Piaget devoted himself to crafting high-precision movements in a feat that formed the very foundations of the brand. In the late 1950s, Piaget unveiled the ultra-thin movements that would later become the Maison’s trademark and the cornerstone of the Altiplano collection. An innovator of the watch and jewelry world, Piaget continues to lean on its creativity and artistic values. 

Support from Piaget helps HSNY to meet its mission of advancing the art and science of horology. 

HSNY welcomes Piaget and thanks them for their incredible support!

# # #


ABOUT THE HOROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world.
http://hs-ny.org

Upcoming Lecture: The Colour of Hours: Race, Time and the Making of a Black Horologist in Harlem

Dr. Paul Lawrie, Associate Professor, Department of History, York University (Toronto, Canada)
June 5, 2023

Time — much like race — possesses an ostensible ‘naturalism’ which often obscures the various historical factors which went into its making. Dr. Paul Lawrie’s research asks if time is indeed relative — as something born of specific historical contingencies — then how do different peoples experience time differently? Moreover, how does the lived experience of time create or reinforce racial inequality within cities? Time and race intersected to inform the landscape of modern urban America in a number of ways: from curfews and commutes to time work management and timekeeping itself.

At the June lecture of the Horological Society of New York, Dr. Paul Lawrie, Associate Professor, Department of History, York University, will examine the remarkable life of one Peter J. Huffstead — Harlem's self-described "master clockmaker" — and one of the earliest Black members of the Horological Society of New York. An analysis of Huffstead's career reveals key insights into the racialized nature of expertise, migration, the politics of respectability and the making of urban community in early 20th century America. Positing time as a past, present and future agent of urban development and racial identity, this lecture presents new perspectives into the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban race relations from the assembly line to the city streets. 

*Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture to begin at 7PM ET. RSVP is required.

** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.

Reading Time at HSNY: Kids Talking Time

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini.

Those of you who have been following my posts about our collection at the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) will know that as a librarian, I’m preoccupied with marks in books. I don’t disapprove of them–in fact I think they add immeasurably to the story of these paper objects and the people who loved them. At HSNY, we have lots of books that show traces of their owners, but the most adorable are the scrawls, signatures, and doodles left by children.

Image 1

One very well-loved children’s book in our collection is “Rollo’s Experiments” (1841). It stars the eponymous farmboy Rollo, seven years old, curious about everything, and quite easily distracted. The author, Jacob Abbott, wrote 14 Rollo books and they were popular enough at the time to have parody versions that skewered contemporary political figures.

We know a child read this copy of the book (or at least used it) because someone has colored in all the woodcut illustrations with what looks like a pastel crayon (see Image 1). Even though it’s sticky and comes off everywhere, this crayon is the charming evidence of how the book lived. Our copy is also signed in neat pencil by two girls, Sophie and Ellen Sword, possibly sisters.

In the chapter titled “Horology,” Rollo, playing in the sandbox with his brother Nathan, decides to make an hourglass. He quickly tires of this project because it involves washing and drying dirty sand. But then in the next chapter, Rollo’s father’s “hired boy” Jonas, who is a bit older, decides to make a sundial. In speaking with different adults in the story, Rollo and Jonas learn how to draw a meridian line, how to find the North Star, and how to build a gnomon (the triangular blade of the sundial that casts the shadow). In image 2, colored in by our eager reader, Jonas and Rollo work on their sundial, which is made out of some spare fence posts.

Image 2

Although “Rollo’s Experiments” was first published in 1839, it reads like any modern kids’ book. A blurb from The Mother’s Magazine, originally printed in the front of the book, says, “[Abbott’s] boys and girls talk and act like boys and girls, not miniature men and women.” Their dialogue and behavior still rings true today. The boys learn about how to create a sundial by building one, with gentle guidance from Rollo’s older, logically-minded sister, from patient adults, and from other books. They don’t understand everything, they make mistakes, and they get distracted and forget about their experiments. Rollo never finishes the hourglass. He gets a time-out for fighting with his little brother. And as he learns, the children reading learn along with him. 

Another book in our library with annotations by a child is “Industrial Curiosities: Glances here and there in the World of Labour,” published in London in 1880 (our copy is the 1891 edition). One of my previous posts focused on a similar encyclopedia of the trades owned by generations of women in a family, some of whom signed their names in the book as children. “Industrial Curiosities,” as in that case, is not a book specifically written for children. This book has different sections explaining the history of various industries, like leather, perfumes, and even “seals and sealskins.” We own a copy of the book because of its long section about clocks and watches. 

The end of the 19th century was a time of major change in horology, when watches were beginning to be produced in factories by machines, instead of in small workshops by hand. Pocket watches became more attainable and eventually ubiquitous. Alexander Hay Japp, the author of “Industrial Curiosities,” writes, “the penalty the City-man pays for the keyless gold repeater in his pocket is that he has lost the simple faculty…of reading time by the sun.” Sound familiar? Replace the word “keyless gold repeater” with “phone” and “sun” with “watch.”

Japp gives a vivid picture of the recent mechanization of the American watch factory. His description, which he quotes from an article by the women’s labor activist Emily Faithfull, makes no secret of the fact that children were working in the National Watch Company factory in Elgin, Illinois. 

When drilling holes in the mainplate for screws, “a little girl cuts them with a needle-like drill, which revolves like lightning…another girl, with a chisel, whirling with equal rapidity, cuts away the ragged burrs or edges.” In the train room, a “girl in charge” cuts the teeth of wheels. “Nimble-fingered girls” also work in painting dials, engraving parts, inserting mainsprings, and in manufacturing the 44 screws needed to assemble each watch. 

Some of these girls were young adults or older teens, but some were children (“little girls” as well as boys) working with heavy machinery in dangerous conditions. A girl in the electroplating room in Elgin “was kept at home for three weeks, with sores upon her hand” caused by contact with the “deadly poison” solution. Their work prefigures the “Radium Girls” of the 20th century, who painted dials with poisonous radium, one of whom is now honored by a scholarship at HSNY.

Image 3

Our copy of “Industrial Curiosities” contains this pencil drawing of a man in a hat and a woman in a triangular dress holding hands (Image 3). The woman has curly hair and no fingers, while her companion has all his fingers and is leaning on an unidentified stick-like object. A child took this book off the shelf and (perhaps sneakily) added their own unique touch. This sweet little drawing is a reminder that the kids in these books, and the kids who read them, were real people with individual struggles, quirks, hobbies, and triumphs. “Rollo” and “Industrial Curiosities” together show a range of experiences for kids of this period: working as a hired hand, working in a factory, hanging out on a farm, learning science at home.

Image 4

At HSNY, in addition to these old, much-loved books, we have a whole collection of modern juvenilia, which is the formal library way of saying children’s books (though I prefer the latter). There are classic favorites for chapter-book readers like “The Time Garden” by Edward Eager (1958), in which a group of kids travel through time with the help of a talking toad and a magical sundial in a thyme garden (get it?). In Lloyd Alexander’s “Time Cat” (1963), a cat named Gareth leads his boy on a journey through nine lives over thousands of years. And of course we have a few copies of the first Nancy Drew story, “The Secret of the Old Clock”, an exciting tale involving a missing will, hostages, and a car chase (1930). In a more recent favorite, Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” (the basis of the movie “Hugo”) a young French boy repairs clocks and automata and solves a mystery. This book is filled with beautiful, textural pencil drawings like the one in image 4.

We also have a selection of interactive picture books that help kids learn how to tell time on an analog clock (Image 5). It’s a skill that not all kids know in a digital age, but these books make it fun.

Image 5

Although I’m not officially suggesting that kids in our library can write in the books, I wholeheartedly invite them to visit us and enjoy the collection in whatever way makes sense to them. Families are more than welcome. We’re open on weekdays, 10AM-5PM, and we do have stickers!

Reading Time at HSNY: It’s Complicated - Time and 18th Century Navigation

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini.

Image 1 – Diagram from Mårten Strömer, Aequatione Temporis (1749)

Image 2 – From Richard Burroughs, A Treatise on Trigonometry and Navigation (1818)

At the Horological Society of New York’s (HSNY) Jost Bürgi Research Library, we have at least 15 books from the 18th century – an era of explosive growth and lightspeed technical innovation for horology. Some of our most well-known horological manuals date to this period.

One of the jewels of our collection is a first edition of Ferdinand Berthoud’s 1763 work Essai sur L'horlogerie (You can view a copy held by the Getty Museum here). Berthoud, an important horologist in Paris, developed his own version of the marine chronometer, a game-changing device that eventually enabled people to determine longitude at sea. Although Berthoud’s invention is not the one credited as the first, it is one part of a fascinating story.

Before the mid-18th century, marine navigation was a serious problem. Mariners could determine their latitude by looking at the angle of the sun during the day or the North Star at night, but they couldn’t measure longitude in the same way. It was, for centuries, an unsolvable puzzle, but navigators did the best they could by using dead reckoning, basically a form of guessing based on an estimate of speed. They also used complicated navigational tables and celestial charts to try to work out longitude. 

The mathematical method took an enormous amount of calculation. In The Mariner’s Compass Rectified (1750), Andrew Wakely writes in his preface about compiling the data for the book: “my Labour was so great, that I almost fainted.” This book, which we have in our collection at HSNY, was written by two mathematicians and published by a printer in London “where you may have all Sorts of Sea-Books,” showing that math and horology were intrinsically tied to navigation. Below, two somewhat crude illustrations from The Mariner’s Compass nonetheless demonstrate effectively how to use two basic navigational instruments, the fore-staff (image 3) and the quadrant (image 4).

Image 3

Image 4

During the course of the century, there was constant debate about how to improve navigation. Some mariners maintained that they needed to be able to tell time at sea so that they could calculate how far they had traveled from their starting point – for British sailors, that would be Greenwich, as in Greenwich Mean Time. But many still believed navigation should be improved by advances in astronomical calculation, rather than the invention of new timekeeping devices. 

Long pendulum clocks, which were the most precise means of keeping time on land, wouldn’t work on a ship that was in constant motion. And although spring-driven clocks had been invented in the late 17th century, they too could be affected by a ship’s movement, as well as factors like temperature (which can cause metal to expand and contract), pressure, and corrosion. So horologists had to come up with something new. The British government even established a Board of Longitude to administer a prize worth up to £20,000 (equivalent to millions in today’s money) for a workable idea.

A number of people tried to solve the problem in novel ways. One theoretical solution was published in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1737, an issue that we have in our library (image 5). The article about the “important secret of the longitude” is signed only “The Farmer.”

Image 5

“The Farmer” describes a new clock called the Perpetual Motion that he developed based on the previous work of his “most ingenious” friend, the horologist Joseph Williamson. The author claims it is so precise it will only gain or lose four seconds in a month. 

Though it’s essentially still a pendulum clock, with some improvements, the author claims that if the clock is hung on a ship so that it remains perpendicular at all times, “the motion of the sea will not affect it.” A heavy weight attached to the bottom of the case will “master all Shocks.” This seems doubtful, but the author, citing no less of an authority than Sir Isaac Newton, points out that because of the Earth’s revolutions, “our Clocks on Shore are turned Topsy-turvy every 12 hours,” and they still keep time! He seems to recognize that his case isn’t entirely convincing, and recommends that ships carry “a good Spring-Clock” and “good Watches” as backup, to be reset daily according to the “Perpetual Motion.”

At the end of the article, the editor responds with an acknowledgment of the proposal’s flaws, and an invitation: “And now I ask, whether a better can be framed, and challenge the whole World to produce it.” The horologists of the world, particularly Ferdinand Berthoud, British carpenter John Harrison, and French clockmaker Pierre LeRoy, were working on it.

By the later 18th century, the science of celestial navigation had progressed somewhat, and mariners were starting to use the lunar distance method for figuring out longitude. This series of celestial calculations was first theorized more than 200 years earlier, but not published and popularized until 1763. One of our books, Epitome of the Whole Art of Navigation (1782), promises to teach the lunar method, as well as everything you would need to become a “complete NAVIGATOR,” including lots of logarithmic tables. The primary author is James Atkinson, who also co-wrote the Mariner’s Compass earlier in his career.

Image six shows one of several fold-out maps and charts in this book, along with a diagram of longitude and latitude at left.

Image 6

Image 7

Someone named Samuel Carrington owned this copy, and signed it very neatly in 1784, just a couple of years after it was printed (image 7). It’s a common name, but I did find one record of a London shopkeeper, Samuel Carrington, who testified as a witness to an attempted murder in 1828. It may be our book’s first owner!

The lunar distance procedure described in Epitome of the Whole Art of Navigation caught on quickly. We have another book published around the same time in Utrecht, in French, that discusses the same method. Mariners continued to use it even after the chronometer was invented, because it was cheap and accurate enough for shorter journeys. 

Image 8

Finally, John Harrison developed several working prototypes of the marine chronometer, culminating in the H4 in 1761, which served as the basis for improvements by LeRoy and Berthoud, among others. While building his earlier models, H1 through H3, Harrison developed a series of complicated inventions meant to compensate for movement and changes in temperature at sea. In H4, he finally abandoned these, developing a small spring-driven movement with a balance wheel that could oscillate at a higher frequency than the balance wheel in a normal watch, which made it much more usable on a ship. The images below show postcards in our collection from the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum, both in Greenwich, England. They depict John Harrison (image 8) along with his four prototype marine chronometers, H1, H2, H3, and H4 (image 9). 

Image 9

As further improvements made marine chronometers more precise, reliable, and affordable, adoption surged. By 1820, enough people had tried out the new chronometers for George Fisher to publish Errors of Longitude, a book in our collection which includes tables laying out how far different expeditions had deviated from their intended course. Fisher calls chronometers “almost indispensable articles” in the “present improved state of navigation,” but seeks to improve their function for the future through detailed observation. And indeed marine chronometers continued to serve their indispensable purpose until the 1960s, when they began to be replaced by electronic systems and eventually GPS. Here at HSNY, we have an American marine chronometer made by Elgin from the 1940s in our permanent collection. For more about marine navigation, library visitors can peruse our modern books on the subject, including Dava Sobel’s Longitude: the True Story of a Lone Genius who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time and even kids’ books like The Discovery of Longitude by Joan Marie Galat and The Longitude Prize by Joan Dash.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the marine chronometer. It completely changed the course of navigational history, and history in general. Because it allowed mariners to navigate accurately over long distances, it contributed to the dominance of the British Royal Navy and all of the consequences of colonization. This complicated legacy plays out over the history of modern horology, driving the perpetual motion forward, over the horizon, tick by tick.

Upcoming Lecture: Public Enchantment: A History and Case Study of a Tiny Mechanical Jewel-feathered Protagonist

Brittany Nicole Cox, Antiquarian Horologist (Seattle, Washington)
May 1, 2023

Birds are a wonder, not just for their vocal abilities or their powers of prediction, but for their biology. The iridescent colors some feathers generate are the result of the refraction of light. A bird's feathers weigh more combined than its skeleton. A bird is capable of singing two notes simultaneously. Mankind has attempted for centuries to emulate their song and their beauty. The mechanical singing-bird tabatière was born during the late 18th century and continues to enchant today.

At the May lecture of the Horological Society of New York, Brittany Nicole Cox will examine the history behind the lineage of the mechanical singing-bird along with a case study.

Special thank you to the Toledo Museum of Art for allowing Brittany Nicole Cox to share this talk. Photo credit Ben Lindbloom.

*Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture to begin at 7PM ET. RSVP is required.

** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.

HSNY Awards $125,000 in Financial Aid at Its Annual Gala (Pics)

Lifetime Membership Card Sells For Record-Breaking $20,000


The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) held its 157th anniversary Gala & Awards Ceremony on Saturday, April 15, 2023, where it awarded a record-breaking $125,000 in financial aid to 20 watchmaking students and four U.S. watchmaking schools, and raised an additional $25,000 toward its mission to advance the art and science of horology.

Mingling in Harvard Hall!

The historic Harvard Club of New York City served as the backdrop of HSNY’s gala once again, where 270 guests from around the world gathered to toast to one of the world’s oldest continuously operating horological associations and support the newest generation of watchmakers with scholarships.

“The 2023 gala broke records in every way for the Horological Society of New York,” said Carolina Navarro, HSNY Deputy Director. “An increasing demand to attend allowed us to max out capacity and draw crowds from top watch brands, VIPs, influencers, and even celebrities, who showed up in style to support our now 157-year-old society.”

At the gala, HSNY presented its largest offering of financial aid to date, and awarded more students than ever before.  

Steve Eagle, HSNY’s Director of Education, presented a ceremonial $125,000 giant check to Mary Raso, student at the Lititz Watch Technicum, and Jose Weinberger, student at the Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking School, who accepted the award on behalf of all recipients. (Please see below a full list of financial aid recipients.)

HSNY Executive Director Nicholas Manousos delivering opening remarks.

Watchmaking students Jose Weinberger and Mary Raso accept a ceremonial $125,000 check on behalf of all 2023 recipients. A giant check was issued by HSNY Director of Education Steve Eagle, center.

“For context, in 2017 we awarded one scholarship to one student, and this year we awarded 20 students and four schools,” said Nicholas Manousos, HSNY Executive Director. “This is made possible through the generous donations from our sponsors, our dedicated members, and gala supporters.” 

Earlier this year, HSNY introduced three new financial aid opportunities for watchmaking students across the country — The Charles London Scholarship for Watchmaking Students, The Charles Sauter Scholarship for Innovation in Horology, and The Simon Willard Award for School Watches.

Isabella Proia of Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo accepting a bid for the HSNY 2023 Lifetime Membership Card.

Benjamin Nelson, winner of the HSNY 2023 Lifetime Membership Card.

Additional highlights from the evening included the sale of HSNY’s 2023 Lifetime Membership Card, auctioned by Isabella Proia of Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. A long bidding war for the sole lot of the evening echoed throughout the Harvard Club’s Main Dining Room, ending in a hammer price of $20,000. The card, which was engine turned by Joshua Shapiro and hand-engraved by Artur Akmaev, will grant top bidder Benjamin Nelson lifetime membership privileges at HSNY, including all aspects of current and future membership tiers. Proceeds from the sale benefit HSNY’s ongoing financial aid initiatives. HSNY’s 2023 Charity Auction will be held online in June and will be hosted by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo.

Dinner came to a close with Aldis Hodge — horologist, HSNY Trustee and Hollywood actor — calling for additional donations to kickstart the 2024 financial aid season. In total, the Society raised $25,000 throughout the evening.

The gala concluded with the reopening of the picturesque Harvard Hall for after-dinner drinks, a large spread of French pastries, and live music.

Horologist, HSNY Trustee and Hollywood actor Aldis Hodge calling for donations to kickstart the 2024 financial aid season.

Guests enjoying desserts and after-dinner drinks in Harvard Hall.

Gala attendees posing with a sweet treat of the evening — HSNY branded chocolate bars!

Teddy Baldassarre, Kevin O'Leary and Linda O'Leary enjoying the evening.

A red carpet moment upon arrival!

HSNY thanks all participating brands, sponsors, members and guests for their support! A save-the-date for HSNY’s 2024 Gala & Awards Ceremony is coming soon!

HSNY 2023 Financial Aid:

  • The Henry B. Fried Scholarship for Watchmaking Students ($5,000 each)

    • Adam Barry (Paris Junior College Watchmaking Program)

    • Kent Beckley (North Seattle College Watch Technology Institute)

    • Alex Ciesielski (Lititz Watch Technicum)

    • Samuel D. H. Mallow (North Seattle College Watch Technology Institute)

    • Andy Park (North American Institute of Swiss Watchmaking)

    • Jonathan Vasquez (Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking School)

    • Kevin Zamani (North Seattle College Watch Technology Institute)

  • NEW IN 2023 The Charles London Scholarship for Watchmaking Students ($5,000 each)

    • Ryan Austin (Lititz Watch Technicum)

    • Tanner Caraway (Veterans Watchmaker Initiative)

    • Michael Davanzo (North Seattle College Watch Technology Institute)

    • River Pryor (North American Institute of Swiss Watchmaking)

    • Harrison Siegling (Lititz Watch Technicum)

  • The Howard Robbins Award for Watchmaking Schools ($25,000 in total)

    • Gem City College School of Horology ($7,500)

    • Veterans Watchmaker Initiative ($7,500)

    • North Seattle College Watch Technology Institute ($5,000)

    • Paris Junior College Watchmaking Program ($5,000)

# # #

ABOUT THE HOROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world.

http://hs-ny.org

HSNY 2023 Lifetime Membership Card To Be Auctioned by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the Society’s Gala (April 15)

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) introduced the creation and auction of a Lifetime Membership Card at last year’s gala. The tradition continues in 2023.

Fresh off the rose engine, HSNY’s 2023 Lifetime Membership Card is a new design once again engine turned by Joshua Shapiro and hand-engraved by Artur Akmaev. This Lifetime Membership Card grants the owner lifetime membership privileges at HSNY, including all aspects of all current and future membership tiers. The card is carefully crafted from a 92.5% sterling silver alloy with tarnish-resistant properties 4-5 times that of traditional sterling silver. The recipient's name will be hand-engraved once the auction is complete.

The Lifetime Membership Card will be the only item auctioned live at HSNY’s 2023 sold-out gala on Saturday, April 15, and will be hosted by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. Last year, a friendly bidding war ensued with Jared Tramontano receiving the inaugural membership card.

Proceeds from the sale of the HSNY 2023 Lifetime Membership Card will benefit the Society’s ongoing financial aid initiatives and its mission to advance the art and science of horology.

Happy bidding!

Welcoming New HSNY Members, March 2023

HSNY would like to welcome the following new members. It is only with our members' support that we are able to continue flourishing as America's oldest watchmaking guild and advancing the art and science of horology every day. 

GOLD

  • Kyle Hovis, NC

SILVER

  • Joey Richey, NC

BRONZE

  • Aaron Esraeilian, NY

  • Aaron Peltz, NY

  • Alain Troadec, FL

  • Alejandro Companioni, FL

  • Alex Feldman, NY

  • Alexander Lee, RI

  • Alexander Liebeskind, NY

  • Alwin Joseph, NY

  • Andy Lin, NY

  • Angus Russell, FL

  • Anney Norton, NY

  • Blake Allen, NC

  • Caroline Williams, CT

  • Chris Albee, NY

  • Chris Rowley, OH

  • Daghan Perker, NY

  • Daniel Holtan, VA

  • David Yue, MD

  • Denis Salle, HI

  • Dorrit Corwin, CA

  • Doug LaViolette, WI

  • Ellen Sorensen, NJ

  • Erik Kahn, NJ

  • Ezra Correa, UT

  • Flavius Cucu, WI

  • Iakovos Babalitis, VA

  • Ivan Brown, NY

  • James Barrett, NY

  • James J. Wilson, CA

  • Jay Doscher, CA

  • Jean Lhuillier, NY

  • Jefferson Lilly, CA

  • Jon-Paul Kraft-Goltz, MI

  • Lavi Rudnick, NY

  • Lawrence Heller, NY

  • Lin-Song Hsieh, VA

  • Mark Connolly, Ireland

  • Mason Neumann, CA

  • Matthew G. Ursch, IL

  • Maxwell L. Shillman, FL

  • Michael Dweck, NY

  • Michael Moses, Canada

  • Mike Ginese, NC

  • Nicholas Alexander Boos, NY

  • Owen Anderson, ME

  • Paul Capar, PA

  • Ray Clapp, TX

  • Richard Gorman, WA

  • Russ McCray, GA

  • Ryan Farr, UT

  • Ryan Zucchetto, NY

  • Sophia Kremer, NY

  • Stavros Gaitanaros, MD

  • Thomas Gilmore, RI

  • Tobias Asplund, CA

  • Todd Selig, NH

  • Viktor Bárdi, RI

  • Virginia Arakelyan, NY

  • Vivishek Sudhir, MA

  • William Brown, PA

  • William W. Ehrgood, OH

* Upgraded Membership Level

Reading Time at HSNY: Smokers, Banquets, Galas: Celebrating 157 Years of Horological Tradition

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. This article was co-written by HSNY’s Deputy Director, Carolina Navarro.

For 157 years, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) has known how to throw a good party. On April 15, 2023, we’ll be celebrating at our annual gala at the Harvard Club of New York City, just across the street from our headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. It will be a night of tasty food, live music, and support for HSNY’s mission.

Our earliest club social events were “smokers” — not for smoking meat, as I originally guessed, but social events where men smoked tobacco, told jokes, and sang drinking songs in German. The songs were in German because the first members were German — the organization was founded in 1866 as the Deutscher Uhrmacher Verein (German Watchmakers Society). In the late 19th century, the Society went through different variations of German and English names, until 1930 when we adopted our current moniker. (We have a collection of HSNY gala programs and other historical documents at the Jost Bürgi Research Library.)

Image 2

One tradition has stayed the same — HSNY members have always celebrated with food. The earliest banquet menu in our archives is from 1912. Printed in German, it is an elaborate joke as it includes some standards like oysters, chicken, and Brussels sprouts, but also some curious items like “enamel filet with cuvette sauce,” “horological cream puffs,” “spindle clock cheese,” and under salads, “etched spiral springs with double-proofed acidic chronometer oil.” All of the delicious dishes involve puns on watch and clock parts. I’m not exactly sure what the men of HSNY did end up eating on March 5, 1912, but safe to say it wasn’t a plate of hairsprings. At right, image 2 shows a banquet menu from 1937 listing some more conventional menu items.

In 1916, the New York Watchmakers Society (as we were then calling ourselves) celebrated its 50th anniversary with both a smoker and a “Golden Jubilee” banquet. Attendees sang songs in English and German, with lyrics comparing the organization to a well-constructed clock that has run for 50 years.  

Though the smoker was the traditional men’s-only celebration, the banquet was not: “this invitation/ Means the ladies too, / Trusting in your expectation/ A jolly time for them and you.” Just 10 days later, the jolly time included a menu of “oyster cocktail,” “chicken consomme en tasse,” “sweetbreads en casserolettes,” “filet mignon with champignons,” and something called “ice cream, piece de resistance” (see image 3). The party roared on into the night at the Terrace Garden on East 58th Street, at the time a popular venue for German-American events. 

Image 3

“While we made the conscious decision to not serve tutti frutti ice cream logs as in the 40s, we will be offering a dessert table with an assortment of French pastries after dinner,” said Carolina Navarro, HSNY Deputy Director. “We hope to build on our gala success every year, so for 2023, we're reopening Harvard Hall for after-dinner drinks, live music and mingling. Perhaps we will bring back cigars one day?”

The photographs below (images 4 and 5) show a history of the organization that members produced in honor of the 50th anniversary in 1916; the cover includes our Latin motto, “Ut tensio, sic vis.” This is a version of Hooke’s law of physics (in English “as the extension, so the force”) which governs the expansion and compression of springs, including those used in watches. In image 5, resident jokester and comedy songwriter Rochus Salomon is pictured just above the words “executive committee.” It would have been a tight field in a mustache competition.

Image 4

Image 5

In 1918, the smoker program included a song in English, “Watchmaker’s Smiles,” written for the occasion by Salomon, a native New Yorker who had studied horology in Europe and later served as president of HSNY. “Watchmaker’s Smiles” refers to several current events in its lyrics: “It may be forever we part from the booze/ And it may be for only a while” speaks to the looming threat of prohibition. Conditions are already deteriorating: “We have heatless days/ We have meatless days/ In these piping days of war.” Inflation is happening, too: “The bills in your vest/ Look like tips at their best/ When the price of some things you tell.” 

The song’s reference to World War I hints at one of the reasons it’s in English, not German. Germans had become a national enemy and the Society’s members needed to demonstrate American patriotism. It’s the same reason our 1916 banquet menu suddenly featured the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” HSNY membership was also growing more diverse around this time, and not every member spoke German well enough to sing merry songs in Deutsch.

The 1918 song goes on to personify watches according to various political personalities, for instance, “One that will not tick/ is a ‘Bolshevik’.” It also decries “bracelet watches” (wrist watches, which were rapidly gaining in popularity) as “vile”: “You should sweep from the bench”/ This trash into a trench.” It then devolves into an increasingly chaotic chorus, ending in mockery of women’s successful campaign to gain the right to vote. Nevertheless, the diversity of topics covered in this short excerpt shows the kind of society HSNY was: working watchmakers who were concerned about tight budgets and politics as much as trends in horology.

HSNY’s biggest celebrations have been on milestone anniversaries: 50th, 75th, 100th and 150th. Throughout the century, as one 1938 program put it, among our “social and entertainment endeavors…our best efforts are concentrated on our annual banquet and ball…one of the most important trade entertainments of the winter season.” A 1937 group photo (image 6) shows a crowd of about 300 members and partners dressed in tuxedos and silk dresses, with the head table at left accommodating those in leadership positions. 

Image 6

Image 7

1941, our 75th year, was also a particularly patriotic one, taking place just a few months before America entered World War II. An American flag adorns the cover of the program for the “dinner-dance,” and a portrait of George Washington is stamped on the inside (images 7 and 8). The menu hasn’t changed much since 1916 though: still a lot of celery, olives, chicken, and potatoes, with petit fours and a “tutti frutti ice cream logue” for dessert (image 9).

Image 8

Image 9

In 1966, on the occasion of our 100th anniversary gala, the mayor of New York City declared February 26 “Horological Society of New York Day.” After the 1960s, HSNY’s gala programs became simpler and shorter, so I don’t have as much information about what members were eating, but we do have some pictures from the 1960s that show they were snappy dressers, celebrating in style. Image 10 shows our 94th Anniversary Banquet on Valentine’s Day, 1960.

Image 10

Although we’ve updated our menu for 2023, we’ll continue HSNY’s century-plus-long traditions at this year’s gala at the Harvard Club on April 15. 

“If you look closely at our gala pictures you can see something interesting," said Navarro. "No, not a picture of Nick Manousos back in 1921 as if he has always been the HSNY caretaker (The Shining reference, anyone?). If you look closely you will find the faces of the very watchmakers and supporters who built up the American watch industry and were dedicated to HSNY's mission we still live by today — to advance the art and science of horology.”

HSNY Welcomes Oris as a Sponsor

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces Swiss watch brand Oris has joined as a sponsor.

Founded in Hölstein, Switzerland in 1904, Oris is one of a small handful of Swiss watch brands that makes only mechanical watches, constantly striving to make better watches that offer beautiful, innovative functions and advanced performance levels.

Through its Change For The Better program, Oris is committed to a more sustainable future by certifying their climate neutrality in 2021 and issuing a Sustainability Report in 2022. This includes collaborations with New York City’s Billion Oyster Project, Florida’s Coral Restoration Foundation, and sustainable Swiss deer leather company Cervo Volante.

“As a manufacturer of purely mechanical watches for over 119 years, the art of watchmaking is integral across every facet of our business,” said V.J. Geronimo, CEO – The Americas, Oris. “We’re thrilled to join the Horological Society of New York as a sponsor, in order to educate the current and next generation of watchmakers and enthusiasts. Oris is a brand rooted in the enthusiast community, and we are excited to support HSNY.”

HSNY welcomes Oris and thanks them for their incredible support!

# # #


ABOUT THE HOROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world.
http://hs-ny.org

Reading Time at HSNY: Four Centuries of Horological Books

This post is the fourth in a new series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. 

Image 1

The Horological Society of New York’s (HSNY) oldest books (see image 1) were published in the 17th century–a century in which Galileo and Shakespeare died, Newton discovered the law of gravity, and tulip mania raged in the Netherlands.

We have several books from this period housed behind glass in the rare books section of our Jost Bürgi Research Library in Midtown. In looking at the images below, you might be thinking, “those books don’t look 350 years old–they look better than some paperbacks I still have from the 70s.” There are a few reasons for this phenomenon, the main one being that during this period, and up until the early 19th century, European paper was made out of old linen rags rather than wood pulp. This early paper was very durable and less acidic than later wood-pulp paper, so earlier books generally tend to hold up better than later ones.

Image 2

Our earliest books are in Latin and French. One of our oldest (see image 2) is titled in the long 17th-century style: D. Petauii…Rationarium Temporum…In quo aetatum omnium sacra profanaque historia chronologicis probationibus munita summatim traditur. The very wordy title, which I’ve already shortened for ease of reading, includes the author’s name, Denis Pétau, rendered in Latin as D. Petauii. The rest of the title promises to tell over thirteen chapters “the sacred and profane history of all ages,” including “chronological proof” of when certain events occurred. Our copy was printed in Paris in 1652.

Surprisingly, given its length, the book is an abridged and summarized version of Pétau’s previous work. It attempts to put world historical events in order, a difficult task when taking into account different calendars in use in different eras and the relatively limited number of sources the author would have had access to. Pétau was a Jesuit theologian (and librarian!) whose work on chronology was highly influential, although he also wrote about the history of Christian doctrine and other historical and religious topics. You can browse a later version of this oft-translated text here.

Image 3

Tablettes Chronologiques (see image 3), published in Paris thirty years later, is also a work of chronology, covering the whole history of the church “in the East and the West,” including “the ecclesiastical authors” and “the schisms, heresies & opinions which have been condemned.” The title page tells us the book is a reference work “for those who read sacred history.” This book lays out history more schematically, as its title suggests (“tablettes” means “tables”). The text is arranged as tables and includes a shorthand system of symbols for different professions and identities, shown in image 3, on the left hand page. One symbol denotes a poet, while another indicates a mathematician. 

Image 4

Another 17th century chronology in HSNY’s library, Les Elemens De L’Histoire (1696), has a bit more of a secular focus, including a long section about the history of noble families and their coats of arms, as well as the official symbols for royal government positions in different countries (see image 4.)

Although all of the books I’ve mentioned so far talk about time, none of them specifically addresses timekeeping or the tools that people invented to try to tell time. One book that starts to talk about horological instruments, published in 1691, is Traité D’Horlogiographie, a French treatise that discusses solar clocks and navigational devices. It has dozens of illustrations showing the most advanced scientific instruments of the time. We have a copy in our library, which is open to the public on weekdays.

Image 5

The gorgeous frontispiece (see image 5) depicts a castle flying a flag bearing the phrase “Rien sans vous” (“Nothing without you”), a motto that often refers to the influence of God and can be found in emblem books from this period. However, in this context one could also read it as indicating the importance of the celestial bodies, without which we wouldn’t be able to tell time or navigate. The scene around the castle shows the main subjects of the book: the stars, the sun, ships, a compass, navigational instruments, and geometric models. The image demonstrates how closely horology has always been tied to marine navigation and to astronomy.

Image 6

This book has two fold-out illustrations (see image 6) and about 70 other plates (see image 7) designed to help the reader learn the science of celestial navigation. Sundials are some of the oldest known timekeeping devices, and knowing how to read the time by the sun continued to be an important skill for navigators in the 17th century. The images demonstrate how the sun casts specific shadows when it’s at different angles to the horizon. Other diagrams in the volume show how to use the starry sky instead of the sun. In a future post, I’ll cover how 18th century inventors figured out how to accurately determine time at sea, which revolutionized navigation. 

Image 7

Our copy of Traité D’Horlogiographie has a French inscription, probably from shortly after the book’s publication, that roughly reads “Make, O God, make me love you more than my possessions, more than myself” (see image 8). The book’s author was a monk, and it seems, given this prayer, that the owner of this copy too was a religious person, perhaps even a fellow member of a religious order. 

Image 8

This book, however, is not wholly focused on Christian theological understandings of the universe. As you can see in images 9 and 10, the book includes the signs of the Western Zodiac, still recognizable today, and a palmistry diagram. As it is now, astrology was relatively popular during this period. Astrologers made predictions based on both in-person observations and diagrams in books. Our library contains a shelf of books on astrology, a record of the human quest to make sense of the vast, dazzling, and sometimes imperceptible sweep of existence.

Our 17th century books are small in number, but diverse in subject. Fortunat Mueller-Maerki, the previous owner of these books and HSNY’s librarian emeritus, defines horology very broadly. If you want to read about calendars, navigation, empire, philosophy, or religious ideas about time, we probably have something that will interest you. Time is what you make of it.

Image 9

Image 10

Welcoming New HSNY Members, January 2023

HSNY would like to welcome the following new members. It is only with our members' support that we are able to continue flourishing as America's oldest watchmaking guild and advancing the art and science of horology every day. 

GOLD

  • Kevin Wong, Hong Kong

  • Luke Kowalski, CA

  • Philipp Krick, Switzerland

  • Phillip Tiongson, NY *

  • Prachi Gauriar, NY *

SILVER

  • Benjamin Groveman, NY

  • Derek Jang, GA

  • Maryhelen W. Jones, NM *

  • Peter Klein, FL

BRONZE

  • Aaron Schwartz, NY

  • Alexander Kapelman, CA

  • Andrew Nguyen, NY

  • Arthur Benning, PA

  • Ben Wilsker, NY

  • Drew Peterson, NY

  • Elliot Lum, NY

  • Erik P. Payn, PA

  • Ethan Goldwasser, NY

  • Garrett Kyle, NY

  • Hussein Roshdy, NY

  • John Bean, MI

  • John G. Sotir, MI

  • Jordan Lateiner, NJ

  • Joshua Peace, GA

  • Justin Rogers, NC

  • Kobi Benlevi, NY

  • Kyle Cooper, CA

  • Mario Marini, CT

  • Mark Roaquin, TX

  • Michael Paduano, NJ

  • Michel Ringuet, Canada

  • Myisha Cherry, CA

  • Rhett Lucke, NE

  • Ryan Bardsley, MA

  • Sergey Savin, NY

  • Siew Ben Leung, Cayman Islands

  • Stephen Bresett, NY

  • Steven Schwartz, CT

  • Terry A. Hamilton, TX

  • Zachary Rosenfeld, FL

* Upgraded Membership Level