Welcome to the Gilt Trips podcast. I'm your host, Kendra Lockhart. As a goldsmith and
gemologist, I'll be speaking 24 carat on all things jewelry, metals, and gems. Join
me plus a few friends to demystify both materials and designs as your private jeweler. Let's
tune in on these topics and get golden. The art and science of measuring time is not new.
The watch industry is constantly evolving. Today we walk through the history of gauging
minutes and hours, the origin of its study, known as orology or chronometry, and the progression
of time pieces from then to now. How long was the journey from the first time measuring unit to
today's versions? What are the main components of modern watches? Let's inform ourselves on
these answers and more. Chapter timestamps are in the show notes. The methods of measuring time,
called chronometry, take two shapes. The calendar, a mathematical tool for tracking intervals of
time, and the clock, a physical mechanism that counts time's passages. In daily life, the clock
assists periods less than a day, whereas the calendar is consulted for longer than a day.
Chronometry is the science of measuring time. Orology is the mechanical timekeeping device,
and we will cover both in that order. The word itself, chronometry, is from the roots of time
plus measure. The root word is associated with the Greek god Kronos, who embodied the image of
time, birthed from the primordial chaos of the universe before order followed, known as the one
who spins the zodiac wheel, enhancing his role as the progression of time. However, ancient Greeks
make a distinction between two types of time, Kronos, the predictable progress of present to
future, and Kairos, a concept based in a more abstract sense, meaning the timing of events in
our lives. The history of our need for perceiving and relying on time was for more than just our
senses. It showed us our rhythms, seasons, and the ebb and flow of natures we needed to harness to
guarantee our survival. Our earliest artifacts of time measurement go back to the Paleolithic era
of the broader Stone Age, where findings were fashioned from bones and rock with various markings
from tools. Mostly it was tracking lunar cycles of the moon for reference. As our species developed
and turned to the art of farming, seasons became very important, and moon tracking became less
reliable. The ancient Egyptians would shift to following the sun for help with time, which aided
their goals. This culture noticed that the star, Sirius, rose before sunrise every 365 days,
which would seed a bigger picture around the need for a calendar. Now let's walk through the
evolution of the devices to measure time. The oldest on historical record is the Water Clock,
or Clopsidra. The name is derived from the Greek word klepto, meaning to steal, and hydor for water.
So this device translates to water thief. It consists of a vessel with markers that measure
inflow or outflow of water, where the amount is the measure. These date back to Babylon,
Egypt, and Persia around the 16th century BC. It's fascinating that an idea can pop up in many
cultures. How it works is as the water flows out of a hole of a marked container or into one with
markers, a witness uses that to see how much time has passed. Several societies made advancements on
this innovation, including India and China, as well as the aforementioned. It would develop into
escapement mechanisms and water wheels. In the medieval Islamic world, a water regulator would
be created, and Correa would add in a feature where an object would be struck by an element to make a
sound. This would precede a chime alerting an observer to time intervals. Was this accurate? No,
it was not a precision piece, but it would be the origin of how we would arrive at that goal.
The next phase in urology was the sundial. Let's address the limitation of this device right away.
It only works in the daytime. A sundial is made of a flat plate upon which the sun casts the shadow.
As the sun appears to move across the sky, the shadow shifts across markers to show time
passing in increments. The earliest documentation of sundials dates to 1500 BC, thanks to Egyptian
and Babylonian astronomy, which is the study of celestial bodies. There was possible mention of
it in the Old Testament around 700 BC, and by 240 BC, the circumference of the world had been
estimated in ancient Greece, as well as the latitude of cities using shadows at first and then
relative angles of the sun. Amazing. We would see the sundial used through to the 16th century.
There are modern versions that are tailored to specific functions, locations on the planet,
innovations in design, but let's continue the arc of progress in timepieces. An hourglass,
or sand clock, is comprised of two glass bulbs vertically connected by a narrow joint that
permits a steady flow of sand from the upper chamber to the lower one due to gravity. The amount
of time it measures depends on the type of sand, the bulb size, and the joint width. There are no
records of its existence prior to a fresco painting dated back to 1338 in the Middle Ages. These were
used when on ships or out to sea since the grains would not be affected by the motion of the waves
upon the sailing vessel. You could find hourglasses in a variety of uses, churches, homes, and work.
It would measure sermons, cooking times, and labor breaks when at the job. As popular as they were,
by the time Europe entered the 1500s, mechanical clocks would eclipse the hourglass. The next generation
of time measuring accessories would be more accurate, cheaper to make, smaller, and easier to work with.
As for mechanical clocks, large style format showed up in the 1300s with advanced features,
often combining astronomy or positional data for the planets visible to the eye. This was built
with an accompanying dial that could show sun and moon for the day and night hours. Accuracy was
increasing and this style would be found in cathedrals where the Salisbury Clock, built in 1386,
still strikes the hours. Smaller clocks presented a technical challenge due to the size of the casing
versus a larger cage. Yet the mission was accomplished and, again, accuracy improved. Spring-driven clocks
appeared on the market. Early versions did not measure minutes or seconds yet. The next challenge
was to solve how to keep time running constantly as the spring ran down. The component known as the
barrel of a watch would be the answer. After 1656, the pendulum clock would be created. Galileo was
credited with the idea of a swinging bob to regulate the motion of the device itself, but he did not
execute it. The pendulum length would correspond to the passing of one second, which the inventor of
this determined from a mathematical formula. Eventually, this would become what we know as a
grandfather clock, with a long case made of wood and sometimes enameled or hand-painted for aesthetics.
Another achievement would be the anchor escapement. In 1670, this would be introduced,
and it was a mini-pengulum with a gear that could push and stop the momentum to make seconds
more precise. Soon after, the balance spring, or hairspring, was designed to control a component
called the balance wheel. This would make pocket watches possible. The third and final element of
this era would be the repeating clock that chimes the number of hours so that you would know exactly
which hour the clock was striking. Why are these breakthroughs so important? Because they impacted
the certainty and safety of water transportation. If you love science, the formula of rate times
time equals distance was critical in determining a ship's location. And now it's the advent of
maritime or marine chronometers. One problem was that a clock with a swinging pendulum does no good
on the rough waters. So in 1714, the British government posed the offer of 20,000 pounds,
which would be 1.5 million pounds today for anyone who could gauge longitude with precision.
England was always strong on the ocean, so this was imperative to both trade and battle. John
Harrison would dedicate his life to refining the accuracy of a maritime chronometer. He built his
first one in 1735 and kept improving it for 30 years before submitting it to be examined. There
were many innovations, like bearings to cut the friction, weighted balances to correct for a ship's
pitch and roll, and different metal alloys to reduce heat and reactions to that. The outcome?
In 1761, his model was accurate within 5 seconds per day. Even though pocket watches were wearable
items in 16th century Europe, the previous progress took these items from being fastened to clothing
or worn on a neck chain and having only an hour hand to the elevated level of being worn in waist
coats instead of externally by the next century. That would mean a flatter shape, rounded versus
sharp edges, and they were often wound up by a small key. Commonly, they featured hand-painted
dials, especially depicting the sea for selling to sailors. In the 18th century, a handful of
watchmakers began implementing the lover escapement, and now a timepiece would lose only
one minute per day. The rise of railroading would rely on the widespread use of pocket watches.
So much so that in 1891, a major train wreck occurred due to an engineer's watch stopping for
four minutes. Naturally, stringent standards would become mandatory, and thus a railroad grade
version was birthed and used across our country. There were two major types, the key winding and
the stem winding. However, by World War I, the wristwatch made its debut. Some men preferred
the pocket version, as the wrist version was considered unmanly in society. That obviously
changed, and now the practicality of it being on the arm makes a world of difference, and not just
in combat. Pocket watches still add an element of sophistication to the three-piece suit,
so they shine more in a fashion environment. Now we enter the modern era. Two significant
paradigm shifts happened in the 1900s. The first is the innovation of the automatic watch,
or self-winding system. Then the electronic watch, created by two American companies,
Elgin and Hamilton, would showcase these options in the 1950s. These were far from perfect,
as the contact wires would often misalign, but it opened the door for the quartz watch in 1969.
The Japanese company Seiko would put forth this version of a wristwatch. It became so well marketed
that it concerned the Swiss, known for their luxury timepiece industry, as this model would
cause the quote-unquote quartz crisis in the 1980s. Why? Quartz is contemporary, quartz is accurate,
and quartz watches are affordable and easy to make. So it comes as no surprise that we would
finally arrive at the future. The smartwatch, launched in 1994, was a wireless model that
would data transfer from a PC or other digital technology device. Regarding the anatomy of
a watch, a simple overview starts with the case or shell of the timepiece, which determines its
size in millimeters. The lugs are what extend from the case to attach to the watch bracelet or
its strap. The dial is where the hands and hour markers are found, whether those markers are
numeric, like Arabic or Roman numerals, or stick markers, or darts, dashes, or even gems placed
at all 12 stations. The knob, traditionally at the 3 o'clock position, is the crown. When it is
pulled out, you see its stem. This element helps either wind or set the watch, often both. Above
the dial is the crystal. This can be made out of plastic, glass, or white sapphire,
each with varying hardnesses. As for the bracelet, there are many styles of links,
or mesh if it's metal. If it's leather, several types of skins are used to create a strap. And
lastly, the closure. On a metal bracelet, it is common to find a deployment clasp, which folds
over to click into place. A butterfly clasp is like French doors. Two halves fold to meet in
the middle and snap into locked position. And as for the strap, a simple buckle is called a tang,
and deployment is available too, with the advantage of preserving the leather from stretching the
punch holes versus buckling and unbuckling. This episode was part one on watches. Next week,
I will cover the top feats of engineering in the world of timepieces. Thank you for listening
and learning with me. I would love you to share this project with people finding rear
beauty in today's world and throughout our times. Until the next episode, keep your own story sparkling.