The English word "clock" comes from
the French word "cloche" meaning bell. The Latin for
bell is glocio, the Saxon is clugga, the German is glocke and
the Chinese is . |
Updated
on 15 Jul 2013
|
Year (B.C.)
|
3500
|
A sundial clock or a sun clock was first used
around this time. |
1400
|
Water clocks were invented in Egypt. |
|
|
Year (A.D.)
|
|
Two Chinese Men ( )
invented the "Water Power Armillary Sphere" ( )
with the function of telling time.
Actually, It is like an small observatory and "Striking
clock". It will tell the time everyQuarter (Drum) and
every Shi Chen (Bell) automatically --- one day was divided
into 12 Shi Chen or 100 Quarters in the Chinese culture.
It is categorized as the first mechanical clock in the world
because it has a part which is similar to an escapement.
|
1086
|
A Chinese Man ( )
invented the "Water Power Celestial Globe" ( )
which has all the functions of the "Water Power Armillary
Sphere" and can display the current positions of
the planets. |
 |
|
1335
|
French, Pierre Le Roy
invented the first escapement. He also discovered "Pierre
Le Roy's rule", whereby any balance
spring has a certain length that makes it isochronous. |
1364
|
Italian, Dondi built
a clock with a planetarium for the palace in his native town
of Padua in Italy. |
1490
|
German, Peter Hele
invented the first mainspring. |
1504
|
German, Peter Hele
invented the first portable timepiece. |
1581
|
Italian, Galileo,
Astronomer and Physicist, discovered the properties of the pendulum. |
1587
|
Watchmaking industry commenced in Geneva. |
1657
|
Dutch, Huygens, a
Physicist, made the first pendulum controlled clock. |
1675
|
Dutch, Huygens invented
a flat balance spring for the balance
in a watch. |
1704
|
Peter and Jacob
Debaufre, along with Nicolas Facio,
are the first to use rubies in watch movements. |
1735
|
John Harrison
completed the first Marine Timekeeper H1 |
 |
|
1770
|
Abranham-Louis Perrelet invented the pedometer
winding system. |
1780s
|
Abranham-Louis Breguet was making perpétuels,
with 2 mainsprings wound by an oscillating platinum winding
weight. |
1787
|
Levi Hutchins invented
the first mechanical alarm clock which could ring only at 4
am. |
1801
|
Abraham Louis Breguet
patented the Tourbillon. |
1838
|
Louis Audemars invents
stem winding and setting mechanism. |
1868
|
Patek Philippe made
the 1st wrist watch. |
1871
|
Aaros Dennison of
the International Watch Company ( IWC ) invented the waterproof
watchcase. |
1872
|
John Burge designed
the Gothic time lock. |
1876
|
Seth E Thomas patented
the mechanical wind-up alarm clock that could be set for any
time. |
1888
|
Cartier produced a lady's wrist watch with diamond
and gold bracelet. |
1902
|
Omega's 1st wrist watch |
1910
|
Longines began wrist watch production. |
1914
|
Eterna made the 1st alarm wrist watch. |
1920
|
Quartz crystal clocks
were invented. |
1923
|
John Harwood invented
the first Automatic wrist
watch. Patent no. 218,487
Rotating bezel to adjust time or perform hand-winding
15 jewels movement
The watch was produced in 1929.
|
 |
|
1925
|
Patek Philippe produced the 1st perpetual
calendar wrist watch. |
1927
|
1st water resistant Rolex Oyster |
1930
|
Tissot developed the 1st anti-magnetic
wrist watch. |
1949
|
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
built the first atomic clock, which
was based on ammonia (NH3). |
1969
|
Omega Speedmaster landed on the moon. |
1970
|
Hamilton releases the "Pulsar", the
first electronic digital watch with L.E.D. . |
1972
|
Longines and Seiko introduce a new type of digital
display with the L.C.D. . |
1977
|
The idea of Spring Drive was conceived in 1977
by an engineer at SEIKO EPSON's Suwa plant in Japan. |
1989
|
IWC assembled the Ingeneur which was able to withstand
a huge magnetic field of 500,000 A/m. |
1999
|
NIST-F1, an atomic clock which is based on cesium
(Cs), works with the accuracy to about one second in 20 million
years. |
2008
|
Seiko Spackwalk - designed and built to accompany
the first private individual ( Richard Garriott ) to conduct
a spacewalk. |
2013 |
Omega introduced an Anti-magnetic Co-axial Seamaster wrist watch which can withstand >15,000 Gauss |
2017 |
Zenith's Defy Lab - New and Disruptive monolithic silicon oscillator replacing classic swiss anchor, hairspring and balance wheel. |
|
|
|
|
|
I will add more critical information when I find it; however,
you can search it by yourself. Enjoy !
|