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Books > Arts & Architecture > Antiques & collectables > Antique clocks & watches > General
Watchmakers: The Masters of Art Horology gathers the work of the
most celebrated independent watchmakers in the world. Thirteen
artisans, each a legend in the realm of haute horlogerie, tell
their stories, describing the traditional working methods and
prized watches upon which their reputations have been built.
Photographs of the masters in their workshops bring their stories
to life, along with detailed sketches and images of their watches
in all their brilliant intricacy. Watchmakers also features
insightful text from other leading figures of the independent
watchmaking world, including Aurel Bacs of the Fondation Haute
Horlogerie and Nicholas Foulkes, writer for Vanity Fair, The
Telegraph and GQ, and author of the only authorised biography of
Patek Philippe.
The Masis Collection is one of the most comprehensive privately
owned assemblages of pocket watches in the world. Focusing on the
watch as a work of art, it encompasses over four hundred years of
the watchmaker's, enameller's and goldsmith's craft. This lavishly
illustrated book takes the reader not only on a journey through the
development of the mechanical watch, but for the first time, shows
the artistic progression of watch case decoration in the
fashionable styles that walked hand in hand with wider European
artistic movements. Beginning with some of the earliest surviving
portable timepieces, the Masis Collection includes watches that can
be considered among the greatest European miniature works of art to
ever be created. The collection is particularly rich in examples of
gloriously painted Geneva enamels, particularly those of the Huaud
family working in the baroque period. Its strength also lies in the
breathtakingly beautiful enamel watches made for export to China
and Turkey in the early years of the 19th century. This book aims
to inform the reader not only of the richness and diversity of the
Masis collection itself but to adequately display some of the
watchmaking masterpieces that have enthralled their owners down the
centuries.
"The longcase clock has been a part of the Englishman's home for
some 300 years and has gained a place in his heart seldom if every
achieved by any other domestic item. An example of its importance
in family life is that it, with the bed and the house, was nearly
always mentioned specifically in the will." In Derek Roberts's
important new book, readers find a wealth of valuable information
detailing the British origins, evolution, and wide range of
longcase clocks that have been produced since the sixteenth
century. In twenty chapters Mr. Roberts provides a detailed
overview of many facets of these beautiful and useful art works,
including early square dial, rare, astronomical and equation
clocks, walnut breakarch longcase clocks (and those in other
woods), and thirty-hour clocks. Other chapters detail various dial
and decoration forms, precision timekeeping, important makers, and
clocks of the Victorian and Edwardian eras right up to modern
times. A glossary of terms and lengthy index of makers are
included. In British Longcase Clocks, Mr. Roberts share his wealth
of knowledge enthusiastically and presents over 300 black and white
and full-color photographs of details and whole clocks. His book
will interest clock owners and all who love fine furniture.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ivory diptych dials
became popular devices for determining the time by the sun during
the day or by the moon at night. These elaborate portable sundials,
which could be adjusted for use in different latitudes,
incorporated various devices useful for merchants and others who
traveled extensively in Europe. This catalogue illustrates in
detail Harvard's collection of 82 ivory diptych sundials, one of
the largest holdings of these instruments in the world. The
collection encompasses a comprehensive array of styles and designs
from Nuremberg, Paris, and Dieppe, the major centers of their
production, as well as from other parts of Europe. Harvard
University has been purchasing scientific instruments on a
continuous basis for teaching and research since 1765. The
Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, which was
established in 1949 to preserve this apparatus as a resource for
teaching and research in the history of science and technology, has
become one of the three largest university collections of its kind
in the world. It comprises about 15,000 instruments from 1500 to
the present and covers a broad range of scientific disciplines,
including astronomy, navigation, horology, surveying, geology,
calculating, physics, biology, medicine, psychology, electricity,
and communication. Illustrated catalogues of other parts of the
collection are anticipated in the near future.
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