How to tell the time in the dark... in the 17th century | The Night Clock | Curator's Corner S2 Ep 6

In 1675 (or thereabouts) telling the time in the middle of the night was no easy task. You couldn't simply flick a light switch and look at a clock. To get around this problem the British clockmaker Edward East came up with an ingenious device - the night clock.
The night clock's illuminated dials meant that you could tell the time at any time - day or night. The only problem? You had to use an oil lamp to illuminate the numbers, and like most clocks, the night clock had a wooden case...
Find out more about the night clock: goo.gl/bElZNh
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[@britishmuseum]

Hey there new comer! If you've just come from Tom Scott's video about Ogham script, we think you might like our latest video about Bitcoin and its 17th century 'counterpart'. Check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqS9c4yBabmChrs

[@hamletfisherman5740]

How did you know, this is sorcery

[@uruiamnot]

What time is it there?

[@sirwilliam51]

That's got to be the most ingenious clock mechanism ever made. Some clockmaker must have stayed up for days to come up with that hour on a chain idea.

[@purefoldnz3070]

'You can't switch on a light like we do now.' You mean like a candle or a gas lamp? lol

[@springinfialta106]

Urwerk has watches based on a similar principle. But they're almost as expensive as that clock would be if you put it up for sale!

[@FoxDren]

I was curious how it was changing the numerals, and that was an amazing solution that would never have occurred to me

[@nigellovatt9982]

It never occurred to me until the clock was turned round. An incredible piece of engineering.

[@rickc2102]

Ditto!

[@uts4448]

Ascdren yes and also the fact that it says it was made around 1675 amazes me too. This genius invention was made waaaaay back then?

[@yushatak]

That's my favorite thing about old tech, especially mechanical stuff - they had to come up with all kinds of clever ways to do things which we'd use a chip or a computer for now in almost every instance.

[@nicksGLI]

All analog clocks should show time like that! It's so much easier. Only displays needed information.

[@scrubJabroni]

The Night Clock: Now you'll know the exact time your house burns down in the middle of the night!

[@monkeygraborange]

HAHAHAHAHA... I thought the same thing!

[@kathrynblodgett1969]

Except the clock is the first thing burning, so all that soft brass will melt long before the house burns down.

[@Madfattdeeb]

It's a new Stephen King book. 😂

[@Broockle]

I recommend LEDs

[@trojanette8345]

I was thinking the same thing. See my comment above. One can only truly understand this video by reading both (your and my) comment. My thoughts EXACTLY. Your comment is definitely worth an Emmy!!

[@kme]

My daughter is obsessed with watches and clocks, stopped playing when she heard the subject matter, and was glued to my phone screen for almost the entire video. Quite a task for a(n almost) 5 year old. 👍😊 Well done.

[@britishmuseum]

Just in case you need some more clock-based entertainment for you daughter, we've put together a playlist of all our films about clocks kzbin.info/aero/PL0LQM0SAx600xVMIZO9L6zXTP_-K8rcDC There will be more in the future!

[@kme]

@@britishmuseum she's absolutely thrilled! Thank you so much. 😀

[@maunster3414]

KM E, that's lovely to hear about your daughter. An inquisitive mind is something to grow upon.

[@The_Gallowglass]

Maybe she'll make custom time pieces and stuff.

[@yordlejay6820]

Should get her a busted one and see if she can't learn to repair it

[@monkeyboy4746]

I like the way the numbers remind me of the Moon rising, getting brighter, and then setting growing dimmer.

[@censusgary]

This clock is very cool, except for its tendency to, you know, burn down the house. I’ll bet wristwatches with tiny oil lamps in them were even more problematic.

[@D-Vinko]

Hahaha. You joke, but maybe we just haven't found the example in archeology yet? With what people create, id not be surprised at this point.

[@kzookid2051]

Not really. You just turn your head and spit on the flame.

[@clickrick]

Wristwatches would have been fine, because they were out in the open air, so the fumes would be able to dissipate. The problem with them was more to do with how to get that lump of lead to hang nicely without continually bashing the wearer's leg. Pocket watches, on the other hand, would have built up uncomfortable heat close against the person, and the fumes would have built up to the point that the flame would have gone out. ;-)

[@abaidullah9104]

there werent any wistwatches back in that age

[@lindac6919]

Exactly. The housewife in those days spent a LOT of time making sure no candles or flames were burning, before they went to bed.

[@brucewilliams6292]

I have many a happy memory of the British Museum! When you go to a museum and ask for the short tour and the staff tell you go to the Rosetta Stone and turn right ... you know that you are in a special place. Also, the food is fantastic.

[@betsybarnicle8016]

@Whited Out The Rosetta Stone. Also, a HUGE collection of Egyptian artifacts amd mummies.

[@GrimBirthday]

Thank you so much for opening it up and showing how the mechanism worked. I was very curious about that, and it's such a simple but elegant solution. I love it.

[@buddyboy4x44]

The simplicity of the hour change is absolutely brilliant.

[@Hoggaforfan]

I love how he looks so excited, a true geek!

[@HellHammerOfDoom]

Same here, it's good to see such passion.

[@Madfattdeeb]

He was so adorably geeky my wife found it cute. No wonder she likes me... mystery solved.😂

[@ChavvyChannel]

his looks and personality stikes me as a nick frost character

[@asdf9890]

Do they call themselves horologists? If so, that would raise some eyebrows of those who are ignorant of it.

[@Gkuljian]

I wanted to know how they displayed the hours. Utterly genius. I'd have never guessed, and I'm a mechanical engineer.

[@New_Wave_Nancy]

This was even more fascinating than I expected it to be. Thank you.

[@lithostheory]

Such a clever mechanism, people were absolutely not supid back then!

[@curbmassa]

No, not like they are now. Amazing how much was figured out hundreds of years ago allowing modern "marvels" to even exist.

[@topramenraymond7005]

Exactly and everything LASTED a very long time. Now and days a lot of things we buy (cheap ass China made) break down easily or does not last very long to get us to buy and buy again.

[@rayminazzi2065]

@@topramenraymond7005 survivorship bias, if everything made back "when everything was made better" we'd still have most of it around today and it wouldn't be rare, some things made today will be in perfect working order hundreds of years from now. Things made poorly today and of yesteryear won't last.

[@topramenraymond7005]

@@rayminazzi2065 just like a cure for cancer we've always had and people who have cured themselves and others but FDA didnt approve.....wonder why

[@rayminazzi2065]

@@topramenraymond7005 I don't think I understand what you mean by that.

[@SudhirRaja23]

What an amazing piece of original tech. It's refreshing to think about how someone arrived at the design and finally put it together all those years ago. Gone are the days. Thanks for sharing.

[@mikewazowski350]

I'm weird. I found this video more enjoyable than any show that is currently on the tube. Mr Cooke is awesome.

[@dick7540]

A number of years ago I visited the British Museum and saw a unique clock on display. The clock had a rectangular metal plate with a serpentine groove cut into it. The plate was capable of tilting around an axis orthogonal to the serpentine groove. A steel ball ran along the serpentine groove until it hit a trigger at the end of the groove . Striking the trigger caused the plate to tilt in the opposite direction and the ball traversed the serpentine until it struck a similar trigger at the other end and the plate tilted again. What a marvel ! I saw this timepiece about fifty years ago. Other than the person who took me to the Museum, It is my sole recollection of my visit to the United Kingdom. If you are contemplating other You Tube videos, I would most enthusiastically propose this as the subject.

[@CricketsBay]

There's amateur video of that clock (somebody recorded their trip to the museum). m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/paS6lp6Djd-XidU

[@kleinjahr]

Oh, the horology, the horology!

[@justingould2020]

I love the changing numeral mechanism! I had a much more complicated theory, but the cleverness of the reality amazed me.

[@ulalaFrugilega]

Just yesterday I was asking myself why I love clocks so much. I have several, some working, most broken, and those are right twice a day. Anyway, the answer I came up with was this: we don't even rightly know what time is, and how it works. It goes slow if you are bored or near a huge gravitational object. It makes all things soft, and without time, there'd be no movement. In short, it's one of the great mysteries and it's everywhere and it's hard if at all possible to imagine. And yet, here are machines that can measure it! As complicated and ingenious as befits the matter, as beautiful as machines can be. This one glows as well. Love it!

[@lilitharam44]

That's amazing! I love things that light up. My favourite clock I own is a Westclox Moon Beam reproduction. It has a lit up dial face, and a light along the side that begins flashing ten minutes before the alarm goes off, for a "gentle wake up." I didn't think it would really work, but it does. The flashes wake you up long before the alarm goes off.

[@nigelcarren]

Thank you for this. From one 17th century metal-botherer to another, I loved this. A truly wonderful clockwork contrivance. Compliments of the season from me (and all the mice in the workshop) 🔨🐭🐭🐭

[@geoculus5606]

Have you been annoying the metals again? ;)

[@britishmuseum]

If you'd like to find out more about Edward East's Night Clock, Oliver has written a blog that goes into a lot more detail. Find it here: blog.britishmuseum.org/time-to-shine-a-17th-century-night-clock/

[@TheWaxworker]

I'm curious as to how they secured the oil lamp in the mechanism.

[@reachandler3655]

I was wondering that too.

[@juslitor]

I can´t believe I haven´t noticed this channel until now. Fascinating stuff.

[@CaptainGlack]

I have to say, the way it changes the number IS ingenius.

[@bruce-le-smith]

Fantastic thank you! So happy to find this on KZbin, I lived in London for a year and miss all the museums dearly. I'd even watch a video of you walking through the galleries talking about this and that! Subscribed immediately.

[@JonatasAdoM]

I can only imagine the marketing "You can tell the time all night long now!"

[@chap666ish]

How very, very, very clever they were in the 17th century. Thanks for the fascinating (and illuminating!) video.

[@davidconnell1959]

I worked in London for a week and only had one free day. I spent all of it at the British Museum, and a third of that time was in Clocks and Watches. A wonderful department full of beautiful and intriguing things.

[@eulcedes]

This was fascinating, thank you for sharing it!!!

[@7ajhubbell]

Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece of history and ingenuity with us!

[@gorp27]

I love seeing how mechanical things operate and I could not conceive of how this was done till you took the face off. Utterly ingenious solution.

[@all3ykat79]

I'm glad this came up as a suggestion... I love seeing how things work and that definitely is, like you said, ingenious.

[@stephenrice4554]

Ah , the British museum , I've spent days wandering around that magnificent building. Great video 👍🇬🇧

[@ruckboger]

Hopefully, you had a place to sleep.

[@KanalFrump]

I want to make a modern replica of this ingenious design. Gorgeous!

[@RoelfvanderMerwe]

This is absolutely breathtaking! More of these please!

[@theurbangentry]

Fancy seeing you here! I hope this finds you well, Best regards, TGV

[@RoelfvanderMerwe]

The Urban Gentry Hey buddy! You should make a video about this!

[@cratecruncher6687]

What a neat clock. I would have loved to see the movement too. Hard to believe people were making such precision timepieces 400 years ago.

[@CaliMeatWagon]

I love that Clock! The Wondering Dial is amazing!

[@aeromodeller1]

Wandering Hour. watchismo.blogspot.com/2007/07/watchismo-times_20.html

[@jds9559]

perfect craftmanship

[@jaceware8808]

I think that is the coolest thing I have ever seen. So intricate for its times. Wow. Just amazing. Beautiful clock.

[@PseudoEmpathy]

The solution to the changing numerals blew by mind. True ingenuity, makes me wonder out of what necessity it was created.

[@who-gives-a-toss_Bear]

The first digital clock. Yes, I did think they were a reflectively recent development. I'm in Australia and this is brilliant. To see this stuff close up is just great. Thanks for the channel and all the submissions.

[@roboftherock]

That was short and fascinating. I had never heard of 'night clocks' before, so hadn't considered your first question before. The mechanism shown is nothing short of genius.

[@jenniferk9242]

So many beautiful old clocks! Fascinating system in that one.

[@daleanderson1727]

What a beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing it.

[@TheClockwise770]

Thank you very much Oliver , that was absolutely amazing . Iv'e always wondered how they worked.

[@dahveed284]

That's amazing. Thanks for showing us how it worked!

[@spacial2]

Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for the great explanations.

[@inisipisTV]

Great work of art and a mechanical marvel.

[@calrob300]

I've repaired and collected various clocks with brass works, 8 day, mantle, cuckoo etc but I've never heard of nor seen one of these! Wonderful, fascinating video subject.

[@drohegda]

Thank you Ollie great information,pure genius.from the USA. 😁

[@reachandler3655]

What a wonderful clock, love the mechanism!

[@electrohoard]

Wow ingenious indeed! What an interesting clock! Thanks for going through the trouble of taking it apart and sharing!

[@martinstrength8532]

Interesting, thank you. The bit about the numbers changing was wonderful.

[@MelliaBoomBot]

very interesting, had never heard of this type of clock before..super

[@georgeblair5172]

Wonderful programme. Great way to spread knowledge.

[@Testacabeza]

So cleverly designed. What an amazing job that of a clock curator.

[@thehellezell]

I love wandering hour movements, this one is so cool! Thanks

[@largeproblem]

This dude’s just so fucking hyped about clocks, and that makes me so fucking hyped about clocks. Tick on, you fantastic being.

[@LectronCircuits]

Night Clock production must be resumed at all costs. Cheers!

[@jimschiltz5343]

Amazing! I love these types of innovations

[@IstasPumaNevada]

That really is an ingenious and elegant solution to that requirement. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of it. Very neat.

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

That is some clever stuff and some very pretty craftsmanship, also the replacement diffuser might be fairly simplistic but it's a pretty inspired solution, I love out of the box thinking.

[@monkeyman8393]

Absolutely fascinating

[@vickilindberg6336]

Absolutely amazing. Thank you

[@MrBobWareham]

How wonderful to see a clock that is so old very interesting thank you

[@markfrellips5633]

Clocks hold a special place in mechanical engineering hearts, ever interesting and certainly symbolic devices. Small innovations in every iteration taking advantage of physics, gearing, and, of course, timing. The switching of the digits of it was particularly interesting if only briefly highlighted here.

[@andyvictory950]

I must admit that i misread the titles and got excited for a second

[@macnutz4206]

I love the human genius demonstrated in the complex workings of so many of these old clocks, including ones too large for a museum collection. Unless there is a direct escape for the heat produced by the lamp, one can imagine many unhappy accidents.

[@BenjaminROUX]

Amazing mechanism, thanks for sharing this !

[@christopherbarber9351]

clear, concise presentation -- thank you!

[@giorgos424]

Thank you so much for sharing this!!

[@NathanChisholm041]

Very interesting! I've recently inherited a long case clock from my father which has got me interested in them! Cheers....

[@paulmaryon9088]

OMG!! genius, thank you so much for that brilliant video, excellent

[@plinkbottle]

An interesting device for its vintage. The genius of the individual came out in those times. Books, observations and practical skills and off you went to make something.

[@nicholas3354]

That is a really cool clock. Thanks for sharing.

[@JoelFriedline]

That is the most frustrating display and it's gorgeous.

[@jamesnicholson3313]

Many many thanks for the wonderful video. Jim from AUSTRALIA.

[@ovalwingnut]

Fantastic 👍😁 As interesting as anything beyond the stars. Thank you 🇺🇸

[@BeingJapan]

Fantastic video. Thanks for posting.

[@rabooey]

What a great invention. My absolute favorite thing about it is the numerals on the chain. Genius.

[@otakubancho6655]

It's truly amazing how they created that mechanism,kudos to the creator!👏👏👏

[@huepix]

Wow. Thanks for this. That is amazing

[@allenwaters96]

Beautifully ingenious

[@GeneralChangOfDanang]

Very cool. Thank you for sharing this.

[@adamjbond]

Very neat and so informative, even better than Antique Roadshow

[@MissChanandlerBong1]

Fascinating. I've never seen anything like it.

[@geneladner8123]

Wow. Steampunk at its finest! Great speaker who is apparently quite knowledgeable, and who has a great speaking voice as well! Love this information, along with the fantastic gears in motion!

[@Tadesan]

That’s bloody brilliant!

[@philmuskett265]

That's absolutely brilliant!!!!

[@mattresbert]

Brilliant stuff Fascinating

[@robertbilling6266]

That's lovely engineering, thanks for showing it.

[@MrNightpwner]

Classy as it gets

[@tunokies]

Fantastic. Came to this via 'The Urban Gentry'. More short videos of your clocks and watches please.

[@Darth_Chicken]

We have 3 grandfarther, one vienna, one grandmother, one westminster mantle and one servent clock. But I've never seen a Night Clock before - fascinating!

[@rickv9180]

Thanks for this video, this gave me an idea for some art I'm about to make.

[@Beachclub463]

Beautiful 💖. Thank you.

[@atlantic_love]

My now deceased papaw owned and operated a jewelry store for 50-60 years. He mostly built and repaired watches, but he also did engraving and made jewelry such as rings and necklaces.

[@piedwagtailrameau]

Amazing insight - will see this in my next visit....

[@derrick_v]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@faithlesshound5621]

This Night Clock was cutting-edge technology in its day (1675): the pendulum clock had only been invented in 1656, and the long case (grandfather) clock in 1670.