Harrison's H4 Chronometer

[Andy]

I haven't posted in a long time but I had to post this after I saw it. A friend lent me a book to read called "Longitude". It is the true story about the quest for a means to determine longitude at sea. There was a huge reward to any who could solve the problem. As it turns out John Harrison did it in 1759 with the worlds first Chronometer. On the inside cover of the book was a rough photo of the inside of the watch. I was blown away by it. I was able to find some better photos of it here http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/79142.html
What is amazing is that this was done hundreds of years ago with much simpler tools and no microscope. No one is actually credited with the engraving that I could find. It is an absolute masterwork. I was actually able to find a glaring mistake in it. See if you can. I'm just glad to see they were human. This chronometer is larger than it appears. It is 5" across.

 

[Twinck]

It is a spectacular piece, there'd are people who collect engraved balance cocks from 1700's era English pocket watches, all of which are engraved similarly.. Spectacular work, and usually hidden from view...

Look for a book titled "watches" by George Daniels and Cecil clutter, for many examples of this engraving..

Tom

 

[Titian]

Awesome work. I love it.

 

[monk]

what a truly beautiful work. a wild guess-- i think i saw a tendril that seemed not only misplaced, but seemed to violate the established order of flow. actually, i should be ashamed to have looked for a flaw !

 

[Sam]

Thanks for posting this, Andy, and it's nice to see you back Fantastic watch engraving!!!

 

[Twinck]

What's even more impressive, is that Harrison's clocks/deck watch were rotting away in a building in the UK, before being restored by Rupert Gould.. Look for the book "Longitude" by Dava Sobel, also a dramatisation with Jeremy Irons & Michael Gambon.. An amazing story...

 

[Andrew Biggs]

An amazing piece of work alright!!

Even with a 5" diameter it has some superb detail. The filigree work is masterful.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Andy]

Amazing that they would have allowed these pieces to go to disrepair in a warehouse of sorts. The one mistake I saw is where the engraver cut through one of the scrolls near the center of the piece while doing the pierced work. Funny thing is....250 years later we know the very exact emotion he must have felt when he did it. At least I know how I would have felt.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Thanks for showing this, yes sure a masterpiece. A 100 years ago time wasn't that important as now these days. But anyway, it isn't just time one needs to do this.

arnaud

 

[santos]

Thank you very much Andy for showing us that marvel

I have heard about John Harrison and the longitude act and I'm happy to see his H4 chronometer.
He was the winner with this 4th chronometer . The 20 000£ prize has surely helped to pay the engraver

 

[Tim Wells]

That's gorgeous; makes me want to start working on watches again...

 

[rod]

Thanks for posting these excellent photos of the final Chronometer, Andy,

I have been deeply interested in the history of longitude, and also of Harrison's life work. You will have read that he had good success making pendulum clocks from wood, and these did not need lubrication. It was a long and arduous project with many disappointments, until he triumphed, and only after the king interceded did he get the prize money, but he was then in his eighties.

I made a special journey to London's Greenwich Observatory to see the series of chronometers for myself, and also the Cutty Sark clipper tea ship ( built in Scotland).

Altogether a superb achievement for its time, and the world's most accurate timepiece then would have the most exquisite engraving and piercing, so altogether the book is something that we should all be reading.

Ironically, while working at my Scottish shop, I bought a digital wrist watch in Woolworths for 99 pence, and it hung on the wall over my lathe. Come October, I went back to work in my Mendocino shop, and returned to Scotland the following year. The Woolworth digital watch, still on the wall, had lost one minute! Darwin sailed on the Beagle which carried at least six chronometers in a special case, the the average time was taken to improve accuracy. They cost a lot more that 99 pence. The Woolworths watch uses Quantum mechanics to be so good, however I cling nostalgically to Newtonian mechanics, you can see how everything works by observing the linkages, and much prettier.

Get the big book on "Longitude", it has many pictures, but none match what you have shown us here, Andy. The BBC TV production is good, also the movie, but they focus too much on the human drama. We like the nuts and bolts, and engraving! I see the engraved date is 1759, the year Robert Burns was born, and the year my fiddle was made, altogether a good year!

Rod