Time Telling through the Ages

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 (#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.

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 (#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 (#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 (#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 (#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.

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 (#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.

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.

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.