Clocktime The Olivewood Tompion Table Clock c1673, 06 Chapter Ring

Thomas Tompion - Olivewood Tompion architectural turntable-base tic-tac escapement table clock.
Join Dr John C Taylor OBE from the Clocktime digital museum as he discusses the chapter ring of The Olivewood Tompion Table Clock, circa 1673.
Discover more about early and antique clocks and watches...
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The early clocks tended to have just an hour hand without even a minute hand and the hour hand, to give you better idea, generally had half hour markers halfway in between the hours and even quarter hour markers because that was about as accurate as the clock was, you were to the nearest quarter of an hour. The really mysterious thing about this clock is that if you take the chapter ring off and turn it over, there used to be half hour markers and they've been beaten out and then the whole thing has been flattened again and re-engraved without them. So, I'll turn over the dial plate and just remove the last of the pins. There we go and when I pick up the dial plate, it'll leave the chapter ring face down and then you can see how the half hour markers are all beaten out, all the way around in the chapter ring. So, you can see how the half hour marker has been beaten out by the punches here to lower the surface and raise the surface on the other side so that it can then be planished flat, filed flat and re-silvered with no half hour marker. So, here's the VI and VII and you can see there's no sign of the half hour marker but you can just see the evidence of the chapter ring foot in this little ring here, where it's been riveted into place but the half hour marker has gone. Here's the evidence of the half hour marker being beaten out by Tompion between the VI and VII and here's the little chapter ring foot, which you can just see on the other side. Why would you do it? The only reason you can do it, is to make a statement that this clock is different. This clock doesn't need half hour markers because you've got a minute hand and it's accurate and so the clock itself makes the statement that Tompion is different, he's quality, he's moving the market forward and this is his first clock. So, he's making a statement that he is going to be the premier clockmaker in London and that's what it became.