Late 19th Century French Comtoise Wall Clock

A French comtoise wall clock made by 'Chapelle, a Brives', late…
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A French comtoise wall clock made by 'Chapelle, a Brives', late 19th century. One piece convex vitreous enamel dial with decorative sunburst brass hands and Roman numerals, signed by the maker and fitted to a break arch pressed brass dial surround depicting two men on horseback. Steel posted two train movement striking the hour and half hour on a bell, and housed in a pressed patinated steel case, with cast iron weights, (missing pendulum), 43 cm high.

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  • Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
  • Pendulum - The pendulum was discovered around 1602 by Galileo Galilei, and was adopted for time keeping by the Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher, Christiaan Huygens, who excelled in astronomy, physics, and horology.

    The pendulum comprises a metal rod usually of brass or steel with a metal disk, known as a bob, at the end. The movement of the pendulum is driven by weights or a spring, and as a pendulum swings in a regular arc, it was found accuracy could be controlled to within a few seconds a week.

    Timekeeping can be adjusted by changing the height of the bob on the rod, making the pendulum either swing slower or faster.

    The disadvantage of the pendulum was that changes in temperature also changed the length of the pendulum, interfering with the accuracy of the clock, and so in the 18th century two types of mercurial pendulums were invented which countered the movement in the steel rod.

    The pendulum was the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the invention of the quartz clock, regulated by a quartz crystal, in 1927.

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