Charles Cabrier II (eighteenth century) was a notable London clock and scientific instrument maker.
Charles Cabrier II, son of Charles I and father of Charles III, was the most prominent clockmaker of the three namesakes. The Cabriers were a celebrated dynasty of Huguenot clockmakers who settled in London after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). [1] A relatively large number of their clocks - built over a period of half a century - have survived. [2]
Apprenticed in 1719, Charles Cabrier II joined the Clockmakers' Company in 1726; he was Master from 1757 to 1772. [3] Many examples of his work, including table clocks, carriage clocks, and pocket watches, are preserved in collections and museums in Britain and America, Germany, Sweden, and Russia.
The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a Royal Charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. The company established a library and its museum in 1813, which is the oldest specific collection of clocks and watches worldwide. This is administered by the company's affiliated charity, the Clockmakers' Charity, and is presently housed on the second floor of London's Science Museum. The modern aims of the company and its museum are charitable and educational, in particular to promote and preserve clockmaking and watchmaking, which as of 2019 were added to the HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts.
Henry Hindley (1701–1771) was an 18th-century clockmaker, watchmaker and maker of scientific instruments. He invented a screw-cutting lathe, a fusee-cutting engine and an improved wheel-cutting engine and made one of the first dividing engines, for the construction of accurately-graduated arcs on scientific instruments. He is thought to have made the world's first equatorially-mounted telescope, which can now be seen in Burton Constable Hall in East Yorkshire.
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches. Clockmakers must be able to read blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to fix and make clocks or watches. The trade requires fine motor coordination as clockmakers must frequently work on devices with small gears and fine machinery.
George Graham, FRS was an English clockmaker, inventor, and geophysicist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The Clockmakers’ Museum in London, England, is believed to be the oldest collection specifically of clocks and watches in the world. The collection belongs to and is administered by the Clockmakers’ Charity, affiliated to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, founded in 1631 by Royal Charter. Since 2015 it has been housed in a gallery provided by the Science Museum in South Kensington, having formerly been located in the Guildhall complex in the City of London since 1874, where it first opened to the public. Admission is free.
Thomas Tompion, FRS (1639–1713) was an English clockmaker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the "Father of English Clockmaking". Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and watches in the world, and can command very high prices whenever outstanding examples appear at auction. A plaque commemorates the house he shared on Fleet Street in London with his equally famous pupil and successor George Graham.
Charles Frodsham was a distinguished English horologist, establishing the firm of Charles Frodsham & Co, which remains in existence as the longest continuously trading firm of chronometer manufacturers in the world. In January 2018, the firm launched a new chronometer wristwatch, after sixteen years in development. It is the first watch to use the George Daniels double-impulse escapement.
Museo Galileo is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedicated to astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei, is housed in Palazzo Castellani, an 11th-century building which was then known as the Castello d'Altafronte.
Jean-François Hobler was a Swiss-born, naturalised-English, watchmaker.
The history of timekeeping devices dates back to when ancient civilizations first observed astronomical bodies as they moved across the sky. Devices and methods for keeping time have gradually improved through a series of new inventions, starting with measuring time by continuous processes, such as the flow of liquid in water clocks, to mechanical clocks, and eventually repetitive, oscillatory processes, such as the swing of pendulums. Oscillating timekeepers are used in modern timepieces.
Daniel Quare was an English clockmaker and instrument maker who invented a repeating watch movement in 1680 and a portable barometer in 1695.
Benjamin Vulliamy, was a British clockmaker responsible for building the Regulator Clock, which, between 1780 and 1884, was the main timekeeper of the King's Observatory Kew and the official regulator of time in London. In 1773 Vulliamy had received a Royal Appointment as the King's Clockmaker.
Joseph Windmills, was an eminent London watch- and clockmaker who, with his son Thomas, produced outstanding timepieces between 1671 and 1737.
Charles Gretton was an English clock and watchmaker during the golden age of English clockmaking.
Girolamo della Volpaia was an Italian maker of clocks and scientific instruments from Volpaia.
Samuel Knibb (1625–1674) was a clockmaker and instrument-maker.
Daniel Delander, also known as De Lander or Delaunder, was a notable London clock and watch maker coming from a dynasty of clockmakers.
Charles Oudin is one of the oldest French horology firms. It was founded in Paris at the end of the 18th century by Jean-Charles Oudin, who came from a family of clockmakers in Northwest France. There were four generations of Oudins who were clockmakers, as of the mid 18th century, first in the Meuse region and later, in Paris. Several members of the Oudin family worked for the master watch and clockmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet.
John Tolson (1691–1737) was an important if elusive English clockmaker and watchmaker of the early eighteenth century who, while not particularly remarkable for his invention, is noteworthy because of the fine quality of his clocks and watches. The style of his early longcase clocks owes much to Thomas Tompion, and the delicate functionality of his early longcase wheelwork echoes Tompion's standards. His short career of 22 years before an early death in 1737 makes his clocks and watches relatively rare and they can command high prices whenever outstanding examples appear at auction.