Dictionary Definition
clockmaker n : someone whose occupation is making
or repairing clocks and watches [syn: clocksmith]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
- A person who makes clocks.
Related terms
Extensive Definition
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs
clocks. Since almost all
clocks are now factory-made, most clockmakers today just repair
clocks. However, originally they were master craftsmen who designed
and built clocks by hand. Since modern clockmakers are required to
repair antique, handmade
or one-of-a-kind clocks for which parts are not available, they
must still have some of the design and fabrication abilities of the
original craftsmen. A qualified clockmaker can typically design and
make a missing piece for a clock without access to the original
component.
Clockmakers generally don't work on watches; the skills and tools
required are different enough that watchmaking is a separate
field, handled by another specialist, the watchmaker.
The earliest use of the term, clokkemaker, is
said to date from 1390, about a century after the first mechanical
clocks appeared. Prior to 1800 clocks were entirely handmade,
including all their parts, in a single shop under a master
clockmaker. By the 1800s, clock parts were beginning to be made in
small factories, but the skilled work of designing, assembling, and
adjusting the clock was still done by clockmaking shops. By the
1900s, interchangeable parts and standardized designs allowed the
entire clock to be assembled in factories, and clockmakers
specialized in repair.
From its beginning in the 15th century through
the 17th century clockmaking was considered the "leading edge",
most technically advanced trade existing. Historically the best
clockmakers often also built scientific instruments, as for a long
time they were the only craftsmen around trained in designing
precision mechanical apparatus. In one example, the harmonica was invented by a
young German clockmaker, which was then mass produced by another
clockmaker, Matthias Hohner.
Other Uses
Clockmaker is also the name of several movies.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160139/
Deists often call
God the
"Clockmaker". The Temple of the Great Clockmaker, in the novel
The Case Of The Dead Certainty by Kel
Richards, is a temple which represents deism.
Important clockmakers
- Ferdinand Berthoud, France & Switzerland
- Abraham Louis Breguet, France & Switzerland
- Martin Burgess, United Kingdom
- William Clement, United Kingdom
- Samuel Coster. Netherlands
- Aaron Lufkin Dennison, United Kingdom
- Giovanni de Dondi, Italy
- Richard Donisthorp, United Kingdom
- George Graham, United Kingdom
- John Harrison, United Kingdom
- Antide Janvier, France
- Franz Ketterer, Germany
- Mikulas of Kadan
- Pierre LeRoy, France
- Jens Olsen, Denmark
- Rasmus Sørnes, Norway
- Eli Terry, USA
- Thomas Tompion, United Kingdom
- Thwaites & Reed, United Kingdom
- Sigmund Riefler, Germany
- Richard of Wallingford, United Kingdom
- Simon Willard, USA
- Su Song, China