British Museum

[RizzoTheRat]

I feel slightly out of place in here as I've not worn a watch in years, but felt I should drop in and say if you lot haven't been, you might want to visit the British Museum. They've got a 2 room exhibit of watches and clocks, and it's made me think I need to get myself a nice self winding mechanical watch. Some beautiful stuff there from the real early days of mechanical clocks to modern classics.

As an engineer my personal favourite was this clock built in 1610 that's been restored and is kept working, but they've got a pretty big range of fob watches and wrist watches too.

[Frederick]

I was there last month and the horology rooms were a highlight of the trip for me. That, and the x-rayed mummy exhibits. Fascinating stuff.

[glazbagun]

lovely trip.

[Gizmo!]

I need to get around to this

[Vipers]

That picture of the clock is interesting in as much as a thread last year said clocks with roman numerals on used IIII instead of IV for 4,

And here we are with a clock over 400 years old with same idea?

Edited by Vipers on Monday 17th January 08:45

[RizzoTheRat]

Didn't notice the IIII, do you know if theres a particular reason for it?

[Vipers]

RizzoTheRat said:

Didn't notice the IIII, do you know if theres a particular reason for it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals

It says:-

Calendars and clocks
A typical clock face with Roman numerals
The Shepherd gate clock with Roman numbers up to XXIII (and 0), in Greenwich

Clock faces that are labelled using Roman numerals conventionally show IIII for four o'clock and IX for nine o'clock, using the subtractive principle in one case and not the other. There are many suggested explanations for this, several of which may be true:

* Louis XIV, king of France, who preferred IIII over IV, ordered his clockmakers to produce clocks with IIII and not IV, and thus it has remained.[7]
* Using the standard numerals, two sets of figures would be similar and therefore confusable by children and others unused to reading clockfaces: IV and the VI; and IX and XI. Since the first pair are additionally upside down on the face, an added level of confusion would be introduced. It is used to make greater character distinction between them by using IIII and VI
* The four-character form IIII creates a visual symmetry with the VIII on the other side, which the two-character IV would not.
* With IIII, the number of symbols on the clock totals twenty Is, four Vs, and four Xs,[8] so clock makers need only a single mold with a V, five Is, and an X in order to make the correct number of numerals for their clocks: VIIIIIX. This is cast four times for each clock and the twelve required numerals are separated:

[bry1975]

Is that the BHI HQ at Upton near Southwell Nottinghamshire?

Bry

[Frederick]

bry1975 said:

Is that the BHI HQ at Upton near Southwell Nottinghamshire?

Bry

The clue is in the thread title Bry

[eccles]

If You're anywhere near Suffolk/Bury st Edmunds they have a nice exhibition on for the next few months. They were left a very nice collection of watches and clocks a long time ago and are displaying quite a few of them. They also have some good horological lectures there.

http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/Telling...