Horology a Child of Astronomy

Englisch/Französisch

Everything to understand today’s watches with astronomical complications.

Primitive Man rapidly became aware of time, though certainly not in our modern-day sense of a succession

of hours. Instead it was the alternating of day and night, the natural rhythm of the seasons, and the changing

position of the Sun and Moon that aroused his curiosity.

Later, Man was able to set fixed reference points in time, and know when to hunt or to harvest by drafting

calendars based on lunar and solar cycles. The Ancient Romans, for example, based their calendars on the

lunar cycle. Because of their imprecision, occasional adjustments were required to realign these calendars

with the seasons. Lunar under Romulus, the calendar became lunisolar under Caesar, when it took the name

of Julian calendar. It too required various adjustments over the centuries, and in 1582 was reformed again

under Pope Gregory XIII. This Gregorian calendar is now used almost universally in the business world.

And so from the origins of humankind to the present day, horologists have developed instruments that mirror

the Cosmos, and made objects which have evolved from utilitarian and scientific into coveted creations.

Horology, a child of astronomy, a publication from the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, lifts the veil on the

mysteries of astronomy and considers its relation to the measurement of time. It follows the study of the

movements of the Sun, Earth, Moon and the Universe to guide the reader towards a closer understanding of

the astronomical complications of today’s timepieces.

The wristwatch carries on a fabulous human adventure, and continues to fascinate admirers of finely-crafted

timepieces in its perpetual and annual calendars, age and phases of the moon, equation of time, and other

complexities.

Reproductions of ancient documents alongside photographs of timekeeping instruments such as sundials,

clocks, pocket watches and wristwatches with astronomical functions illustrate the text, which also includes

explanations of the Nebra sky disc, the Antikythera mechanism, and the Prague astronomical clock. A comprehensive glossary provides terms of interest to anyone curious about astronomical timekeeping.

Dominique Fléchon, historian and expert in Fine Watchmaking, is the author of The Mastery of Time (published in 2011

by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and Editions Flammarion) in addition to numerous specialised studies.

Grégory Gardinetti is a historian with responsibility for themed exhibitions and studies at the Fondation de la Haute

Horlogerie in Geneva.