TIMEPIECES HISTORY
The clock is one of the oldest automatic mechanical devices for measuring time.
Without it man is only capable of telling day from night and, when the sun morning from afternoon. If he has
knowledge of the stars he may be able to guess at the
night hours by observing those heavenly bodies, but only when the sky is clear.
Today
clocks are of such that one finds it impossible to imagine a time when we did
not have them. As recently as the early 1800s, however, a clock or a watch was a
luxury, something only the wealthy could possess. a bad watch had the value of a
precious stone. It is quite probable that if a man had to choose between a ruby and a
watch he would take the latter.
In Europe and colonial America most people had
to depend on the clock in the nearby church steeple; they their daily
activities according to its hourly striking. The pace of life was , however, and if a person was a bit late for an
appointment it really didn't matter
because the person expecting him was just as uncertain about the hour as he was.
The
earliest clocks available to the average person had wooden wheels inside them and were
therefore not as expensive as those with brass works. They had however,
for they worked well in a dry climate, in a humid climate they often
stopped functioning. It wasn't until the 19th century that a clock with brass works was
available to all. Today, virtually everybody can some type of timepiece.
