Clockmaker
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A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most clockmakers today just repair clocks. However, originally they were master craftsmen who designed and built clocks by hand. Since modern clockmakers are required to repair antique, handmade or one-of-a-kind clocks for which parts are not available, they must still have some of the design and fabrication abilities of the original craftsmen. A qualified clockmaker can typically design and make a missing piece for a clock without access to the original component.
Clockmakers generally don't work on watches; the skills and tools required are different enough that watchmaking is a separate field, handled by another specialist, the watchmaker.
The earliest use of the term, clokkemaker, is said to date from 1390, about a century after the first mechanical clocks appeared.[1] Prior to 1800 clocks were entirely handmade, including all their parts, in a single shop under a master clockmaker. By the 1800s, clock parts were beginning to be made in small factories, but the skilled work of designing, assembling, and adjusting the clock was still done by clockmaking shops. By the 1900s, interchangeable parts and standardized designs allowed the entire clock to be assembled in factories, and clockmakers specialized in repair.
From its beginning in the 15th century through the 17th century clockmaking was considered the "leading edge", most technically advanced trade existing. Historically the best clockmakers often also built scientific instruments, as for a long time they were the only craftsmen around trained in designing precision mechanical apparatus. In one example, the harmonica was invented by a young German clockmaker, which was then mass produced by another clockmaker, Matthias Hohner.
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[edit] Other Uses
Clockmaker is also the name of several movies. [1]
Deists often call God the "Clockmaker". The Temple of the Great Clockmaker, in the novel The Case Of The Dead Certainty by Kel Richards, is a temple which represents deism.
[edit] See also
[edit] Important clockmakers
- Ferdinand Berthoud, France & Switzerland
- Abraham Louis Breguet, France & Switzerland
- Martin Burgess, United Kingdom
- William Clement, United Kingdom
- Samuel Coster. Netherlands
- Aaron Lufkin Dennison, United Kingdom
- Giovanni de Dondi, Italy
- Richard Donisthorp, United Kingdom
- George Graham, United Kingdom
- John Harrison, United Kingdom
- Antide Janvier, France
- Franz Ketterer, Germany
- Mikulas of Kadan
- Pierre LeRoy, France
- Jens Olsen, Denmark
- Rasmus Sørnes, Norway
- Eli Terry, USA
- Thomas Tompion, United Kingdom
- Thwaites & Reed, United Kingdom
- Sigmund Riefler, Germany
- Richard of Wallingford, United Kingdom
- Simon Willard, USA
- Su Song, China
[edit] Clockmaking organizations
- AWCI
- Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
- British Horological Institute
- Worshipful Company of Clockmakers
