Mechanical watches. History of watches
Who invented the first clock? mechanical...
The first pendulum clock was invented in Germany around the year 1000 by Abbot Herbert, the future Pope Sylvester II. Around 1200, tower clocks appeared. Later, pocket watches appeared, and then - much later - wristwatches. They had a dial, as well as hour and minute hands. The mechanism consisted of many interconnected gears.
There is also information from http://n-t.ru/tp/it/rnt07.htm
The most ancient
First mechanical watches with an anchor mechanism were made in China in 725 AD. And Xing and Liang Lingzan.
The oldest surviving clock in the world without a dial dates back to 1386, or slightly earlier, and is still working. They are located at Salisbury Cathedral, UK. In 1956 they were restored. By that time, they had served the townspeople for 498 years and had flown more than 500 million times.
Approximately 1335 dates back to clocks with weights in cathedral Wales, UK. However, only their iron frame has been preserved in its original form.
In 1962, a copy of the heptagonal astronomical clock of Giovanni de Doidi (1348...1364) was made.
Mechanical watch design
A mechanical watch consists of three main parts:
The source of energy is a wound spring or a raised weight.
Oscillatory system (in the language of watchmakers trigger) - pendulum or balance. The escapement mechanism determines the accuracy of the watch.
Dial with arrows.
All this is connected by a system of gears (gears).
[edit] Pendulum
Historically, the first escapement mechanism is the pendulum. As is known, with the same amplitude and constant acceleration of free fall, the frequency of oscillation of a pendulum is constant.
Part pendulum mechanism includes:
Pendulum;
An anchor connected to a pendulum;
Ratchet wheel (ratchet).
The accuracy of the stroke is adjusted by changing the length of the pendulum.
The classic pendulum mechanism has three disadvantages. Firstly, the frequency of oscillation of a pendulum depends on the amplitude of the oscillations (Huygens overcame this drawback by making the pendulum oscillate along a cycloid, rather than along an arc of a circle). Secondly, pendulum clocks must be stationary; They cannot be used on moving vehicles. Thirdly, the frequency depends on the acceleration of gravity, so a clock adjusted at one latitude will lag behind at lower latitudes and advance at higher latitudes.
[edit] Balance
Balancing mechanism of a wristwatch The Dutchman Christiaan Huygens and the Englishman Robert Hooke independently developed another oscillatory mechanism, which is based on the oscillations of a spring-loaded body.
The balancing mechanism includes:
Balance wheel;
Spiral;
Fork;
Thermometer - accuracy adjustment lever;
Ratchet.
The accuracy of the stroke is regulated by a thermometer - a lever that removes some part of the spiral from working. The balance is sensitive to temperature fluctuations, so the wheel and spiral are made of alloys with a low coefficient of thermal expansion. The second option, an older one, is to make the wheel from two different metals so that it bends when heated (bimetallic balance).
To improve accuracy, the balance was equipped with screws that allow the wheel to be precisely balanced. The introduction of automatic machines freed watchmakers from balancing; the screws on the balance sheet became a purely decorative element.
The balance mechanism is used primarily in portable watches, since, unlike pendulum ones, it can be used in different positions. However, due to sensitivity to temperature fluctuations, as well as less durability, a pendulum is still used in tower and some types of floor and wall clocks
One of the first inventions of mankind was the invention of the clock. However, the invention of a mechanical clock showing the current time (regardless of cloudy weather, twilight or night time (sunny), the amount of water or sand (water or sand), the amount of oil in a bowl or wax (fire) ... in 1337 in the Paris Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris lit a giant candle-column, which was used to measure a whole year of life), which was the most important invention of mankind.
Researchers studying the history of the invention and the time of the appearance of the first mechanical watches have not come to a common opinion about when the first time-keeping mechanisms appeared. Some give the palm in the invention of mechanical watches to a certain monk from the city of Verona. The inventor's name was Pacificus. Other researchers believe that this inventor was a monk named Herbert, who lived in a monastery in the Spanish city of Sala-Manca in the 10th century. For his scientific research, he was accused of witchcraft and expelled from Spain. This, however, did not prevent him from later becoming pope, Sylvester II. (His papacy lasted from 999 to 1003.) It is reliably known that in 996 Herbert designed and built a weight tower clock for Magdeburg. We can conclude that mechanical watches appeared almost simultaneously and independently of each other in different countries- the course of development of human technical thought led to this.
In the first watch movements, six main components could be distinguished:
. Engine;
. Gear transmission mechanism; (the period of rotation of wheels in a gear train depends on the ratio of the diameters of the wheels included in it or, what is the same, the ratio of the number of teeth. By selecting wheels with different numbers of teeth, it was easy to select the ratio of the number of teeth on the wheels in mesh, so that one of them makes a revolution in exactly 12 hours. If you “plant” an arrow on the axis of this wheel, then it will also make a revolution in 12 hours. It was also possible to select wheels with such a ratio of the number of teeth that one of them could make its revolution in one hour or in one minute. Accordingly, it was possible to connect the minute or second hands to their axes. But such an improvement would be made later. Only in the 18th century. And until then, the clock had only one hand - the hour hand.
. Bilyanets (bilyanets or, in Russian, rocker) is an oscillatory system, a prototype of balance, which does not have its own period of oscillation; it was used in stationary and portable watches until the 19th century. Specialists call the device that ensures the uniform movement of the gears of a clock mechanism BILYANETS;
. Trigger distributor;
. Pointer mechanism;
. Hand translation mechanism.
The engine of the first mechanical watch was driven by the potential kinetic energy of the load due to the influence of the earth's gravitational force on it. A load - a stone or later a weight - was attached to a smooth shaft on a rope. Initially the shaft was made of wood. Later it was replaced by a shaft made of metal. The force of gravity caused the load to fall, the rope or chain to unwind, and in turn caused the shaft to rotate. The power reserve was determined by the length of the cable: the longer the cable, the longer the watch's power reserve. The clock mechanism should have been located perhaps higher. This was a problem for such a mechanism - the load needed to “fall” somewhere. To satisfy the condition, a structure was built, as a rule, in the form of a tower (This is where the first mechanical clock got its name - tower). The height of the tower had to be at least 10 meters, and the weight of the load sometimes reached 200 kilograms. The shaft was connected to the ratchet wheel through intermediate gears. The latter, in turn, set the arrow in motion. The first mechanical clocks had one hand (like “primitive” sundials, in which the gnomon, a single pole, indicated the current time of day). And the direction of movement of the hand of the first mechanical clock was not chosen by chance, but was determined by the direction of movement of the shadow cast by the gnomon. The number of time indexes (divisions on the dial) was also inherited from the sundial.
The very first mechanical watches with an anchor mechanism were made during the Tang Dynasty (June 18, 618 - June 4, 907) in China in 725 AD by masters Yixing and Liang Lingzan.
From China, the secret of the clock mechanism came to the Arabs. And only from them appeared in Europe. 
The prototype of the first mechanical watch was the Atnikitera mechanism, discovered by the Greek diver Lycopanthis near the island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea, at a depth of 43 to 62 meters on a sunken ancient Roman ship.
This event took place on April 4, 1900. The Antikythera mechanism had 37 bronze gears housed in a wooden case. The case housed several dials with arrows.
The Antikythera mechanism was used to calculate the movement of celestial bodies. The dial on the front wall served to display the signs of the zodiac and the days of the year.
Two dials on the back of the case were used to simulate the position of the Sun and Moon relative to the fixed stars.
The first tower clocks in Europe appeared in the 14th century. It is interesting that the English word clock itself, the Latin word - clocca and a number of similar words in other European languages, originally meant not “clock”, but “bell” (very similar to the sound in Russian: bell - clocca - clock). The explanation is trivial - the first tower clock had neither a dial nor hands. They did not show the time at all, but produced signals by ringing a bell. The first such clocks were located on monastery towers, where there was a need to inform the monks about the time for work or prayer.
Visual evidence of the existence in the 14th century of a tradition coming from monastery clocks is the tower clock in England and France - with striking, but without a dial. The first mechanical watch with a dial and a hand (one at the moment) appeared in Europe in the 15th century. And it was not the arrow that rotated in them, but the dial itself. The dial was traditionally divided into 6, 12 and 24 divisions. The only arrow was located vertically.
Tower clocks, which were invented and built in the 14th - 15th centuries, were also called astronomical. Such clocks were built in Norwich, Strasbourg, Paris, and Prague. The tower astronomical clock was the pride of the city.
The cathedral, located in the French city of Strasbourg, is one of the oldest in Europe. The tower clock appeared on it in 1354. The height of the clock reaches 12 meters, and the diameter of the annual calendar wheel is 3 meters. 
Every noon, instead of the standard ringing, the clock showed a whole performance: the guards came out to the crowing of a rooster and three wise men prayed before the Mother of God. The clock showed not only the time, but the current year.
They displayed the dates of the main church holidays in the coming year. An astrolabe was built in front of the clock, which showed the movements of the Moon, Sun and stars. At certain times, the solemn anthem was played on special gongs. The clock was subsequently reconstructed several times. So, after the Great French Revolution (1789 - 1794) they faced big globe, showing the location of more than 5,000 stars of the Galaxy in the sky above the city.
Higher accuracy was acquired by astronomical clocks with the invention of a pendulum device that ensures the counting of equal periods of time. This invention was made in 1657 by Christian Huygens van Zeilichem (Dutch mechanic, physicist, astronomer, inventor 04/14/1629 - 07/08/1695).
History of watchmaking in Ancient Rus'.
….In the Novgorod Chronicle about the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 you can find: “Blood was shed between the fighting and the 9th. If we do not know that the time in the chronicle is indicated according to the church account, then the essence of the question would remain unknown to us. IN ancient Rus' daytime and nighttime were counted separately. And the countdown was made from sunrise to sunset (day hours) and from sunset to sunrise (night hours).
Traditionally, it was believed that watchmaking in Rus' was not held in high esteem. But the first tower clocks in Rus' appeared almost simultaneously with tower clocks in Europe. With a more careful study of archival documents, it became clear that even the chroniclers of Veliky Novgorod of the 11th century indicated not only the days, but also the hours of the most worthy and noteworthy events.
The first tower clock in Moscow was erected by the monk Lazar in 1404. The clock was built in the courtyard of Grand Duke Vasily, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, whose palace was located exactly in the same place where the Grand Kremlin Palace now stands. Then it was the second watch in Europe.
Lazar Serbin was born in Serbia from here and received this nickname. Lazarus came to Moscow from the “Holy Mountain”. This is Mount Athos, located in the southeastern part of the Greek island of Aion Oros in the Aegean Sea. Monastery near the mountain it was founded back in 963.
How these clocks were constructed is not known for certain. In the “Front Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible” or “Tsar-Book”, published in Moscow in the third quarter of the 16th century, there is a color miniature depicting the launch of the “clockmaker” (these clocks were also called “chasomerye”).
Monk Lazar tells Grand Duke Vasily I about the structure of his clock. 
Judging by the drawing, they had three weights, which indicates the complexity of the clock mechanism. It can be assumed that one weight drove the clock mechanism, another - the bell mechanism, and the third - the planetary mechanism. The planetary mechanism showed the phases of the moon.
There are no hands on the clock dial. Most likely, the dial itself was rotating. More likely “bukvoblat” because instead of numbers it had Old Slavonic letters: az-1, buki-2, vedi-3, verb-4, dobro-5 and further according to the alphabet of Cyril and Methodius. 
The watch caused genuine delight among the population and was considered a real curiosity. Vasily the First paid Lazar Serbin “half a ruble” for them. (at the exchange rate of the beginning of the 20th century, this amount would have been 20,000 gold rubles).
For decades, this tower clock was not only the only one in Moscow, but throughout Rus'. The installation of the first tower clock in Moscow was mentioned in chronicles as an event of great national importance.
….55.752544 degrees north latitude and 37.621425 degrees east longitude. Geographical coordinates of the location of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin...
The most famous clocks of Rus' and Russia are the Kremlin chimes, a clock-chimes installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.
Courante (French) - courante (dance, first salon), from dancecourante - (literally) “running dance, from courir - to run< лат.сurrerre - бежать. Музыка этого танца использовалась в старинных настольных часах.
In 1585, clocks were already on three gates of the Moscow Kremlin towers. Spasskaya, Tainitskaya and Troitskaya.
In 1625, the English mechanic and watchmaker Christopher Galloway, together with the Russian blacksmiths and watchmakers who helped him Zhdan, his son Shumila Zhdanov and grandson Alexei Shumilov, installed a tower clock on Spasskaya. 13 bells were cast for them by foundry worker Kirill Samoilov. During a fire in 1626, the clock burned down; in 1668, the same Christopher Galloway restored it again. The clock “played music” and showed the time: day and night, indicated by Slavic letters and numbers. And the dial then was not a “dial”, but a “word indicator circle, a circle of recognition.” The role of the arrow was played by the image of the sun with a long ray, fixed vertically and motionlessly in the upper part of the circle. The disk itself rotated, divided into 17 equal parts. (This was the maximum day length in the summer).
IN different time The chimes played: the march of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the melody of D.S. Bortnyansky “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion”, the song “Ah, my dear Augustine”, “Internationale”, “You have fallen a victim”, the works of M.I. Glinka: “Patriotic song" and "Glory". Now the Russian anthem is being played to the music of A.V. Alexandrova.
Such a detailed acquaintance with the structure and operation of the clock mechanism of a tower clock makes it easier to understand the operation of the clock mechanism of a wall clock. The use of a weight (weight), and later a spring, as a motor driving the gears of a clock mechanism (photo of a balance spiral, photo of a balance pendulum), together with the invention and use of a device in a clock mechanism that ensures uniform movement of the gears of a clock mechanism, BILYANTS made it possible to reduce both the dimensions and weight of the watch. The use of a fusee in the design of the watch mechanism also greatly contributed to the reduction in the dimensions of the watch.
The engine, driven by the kinetic energy of the load due to the gravitational force, where the rotation of the gear wheel mechanism was almost uniform (the weight of the changing length of the rope or chain can be neglected) was replaced by a clock with a spring. But a spring motor has its own “nuance”. The steel spring, as it “unfolds,” transmits a “subsiding” force to the gear mechanism. It “weaken” and the torque changes. This drawback was eliminated by the use of a device in the design of the clock mechanism to preserve and maintain uniform spring force. This device is called a fusee (emphasis on the “e”).
The invention of the fusee was attributed to the Prague watchmaker Jacob Zech. Researchers date the first use of this device to the beginning of the 16th century (around 1525).
Until drawings were found in the archives of Leonardo da Vinci describing the same device, and their author was “a genius of all times and peoples.” The drawings are dated 1485. Historical justice has triumphed. The authorship of the invention was assigned to Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci.
LeonardodiserPierodaVinci (April 15, 1452 - May 5, 1519), painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, writer, inventor. A striking example of a “universal person” (lat. homouniversalis).
The fusée is a truncated cone that is connected to the mainspring barrel using a special chain.
Among experts, the chain is known as the Gaal chain. On the side surface of the fusée, a groove is machined in the form of a conical helical spiral, into which the Gaal chain fits when the latter is wound around the fusée. The chain is attached to the cone at its lower part (at the point of greatest radius) and is wound around the cone from bottom to top. At the base of the cone there is a gear that transmits torque to the main wheel system of the watch. As the spring winds down, the fusee compensates for the drop in torque by increasing the gear ratio, thus increasing the evenness of the watch over the entire period of operation of the mechanism from one winding to the next. (photo 300px-Construction_fusei). After the invention of the free anchor movement by the English watchmaker Thomas Muidge in 1755, the need to use a fusee in the watch mechanism disappeared.
The introduction of these inventions contributed to the reduction in the size of watches. The clocks were able to “live” with people in their homes. This is how the room clock appeared.
FIRST ROOM CLOCK. ALLFALFA CLOCK.
The first clocks, indoor ones, which could be used indoors, began to appear in the 14th century in Britain. They were so huge and heavy that it never occurred to me to hang them on the wall. For this reason they stood on the floor - a grandfather clock. According to your scheme and structural elements, they were not much different from a large tower clock. The wheel system with weights and bells was located in a housing made of iron or brass.
The so-called "alfalfa" (modern) appeared in English watchmakers around 1600. Initially, the cases of these watches were made of iron. Later, bronze or brass was used as a material for the manufacture of wall clock cases. The name “alfalfa” supposedly arose because of the shape of their body (they resembled old candle lanterns). According to another version, their name arose from the word “lacten”, which meant “brass”.
Both versions are quite elegant:
. From Latin lucerna - candle, lamp;
. Lactten - brass.
. Lucerne (German: Luzern)
Lucerne is a city in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Lucerne, at the foot of Mount Pilatus. The city was founded during the Roman Empire; some researchers place the date of its foundation even earlier early date. The official year of foundation of the city is 1178.
During the religious wars in France in the second half of the 16th century, the Huguenots, fleeing massacre, were forced to emigrate to Switzerland. Among them were many talented craftsmen and watchmakers, among others.
Today, the Swiss watch industry ranks third among its own exporting industries. The watch industry in Switzerland is in a special place. (This variant origin of the name "alfalfa" Wall Clock“has not yet been taken into account or considered by anyone as a possible explanation for the origin of the definition “alfalfa”).
As for the first household or pocket watches in Rus', here, until the beginning of the 20th century, the first creaks were played by foreign watchmakers. The first watches were very expensive and looked more like a piece of jewelry. They began to be imported to Russia under Ivan III at the beginning of the 16th century. They were either ambassadorial gifts to the king and his court or expensive goods for the rich. At the beginning of the 17th century, the first wall clocks appeared in Rus'. English watchmakers started making them.
THE FIRST ROOM AND WALL CLOCKS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.
The “Window to Europe, opened” by Peter I, gave Russia the opportunity to get acquainted with watchmaking in the West. Catherine I, Elizaveta Petrovna and Catherine II were given pendulum and pocket watches from the best European watchmakers of that time.
In Russia, Catherine II the Great even made attempts to create a watch industry.
In 1774, watchmakers Basilier and Sando, thanks to financial assistance and material support from Catherine, organized the first watch manufactory in Russia in Moscow. In 1796, two watch factories were founded. One is in St. Petersburg, and the other is in Moscow. However, the factory in Moscow closed after operating for less than 10 years. The factory in St. Petersburg existed a little longer, but it also closed.
His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky (09/13/1739 - 10/05/1791) organized a factory-school on his estate Dubrovna (Belarus) in 1781.
The Swede Peter Nordsteen (1742-1807, Ruotsi, Sweden) was invited to transfer knowledge in watchmaking. In this factory-school, 33 serf students studied watchmaking. After his death, Catherine II bought the factory-school from the heirs of G.A. Potemkin. The Empress issued a Decree according to which the factory was transferred to Moscow. A special building was built for the factory in Kupavna, Moscow province. Clocks of “every kind” produced at the factory: wall clocks, striking clocks, pocket clocks, were not inferior in quality to the watches of European masters. But only a small part of them was sold, and the bulk was provided to the royal court.
In Russia, indoor wall and table and pocket clocks began to spread widely in the 18th century. On Myasnitskaya in Moscow a “Clock Yard” was formed, where many watchmakers worked. Watch workshops continued to open on this street. Among them was the watch workshop of brothers Nikolai and Ivan Bunetop. In the middle of the 19th century, their “craftsmanship” gained fame, and the brothers were called to restore the Kremlin chimes on the Spasskaya Tower. On Tverskaya there were famous watch workshops of D.I. Tolstoy and I.P. Nosov. At the beginning of Nikolsky Lane in house No. 1/12 there was a watch shop of the merchant Kalashnikov. Mikhail Alekseevich Moskvin served as its clerk. From childhood he became interested in mechanics and the design of watches. In his father's house there was a family heirloom - a clock from the late 18th century. Mikhail Moskvin learned his skills from the best watchmakers in Austria. So already in 1882, watches with the “MM” stamp appeared in Russia. And the first clocks branded “MM” were floor and wall clocks.
Pavel (Pavel-Eduard) Karlovich Bure (P.Bure1810 - 1882) watchmaker, St. Petersburg merchant, founder of the famous watchmaking trademark"Pavel Bure". PC. Bure founded his business in Russia in 1815. The quality of the watches made was recognized, and he became a supplier to the “Court of His Imperial Majesty.” However, these were mainly pocket, table and mantel clocks. They were mainly used by wealthy people.
The mechanisms of pocket and wall watches were made by the watch company “V. Gaby”.
WALL CLOCK OF ROYAL RUSSIA. (End of the 19th century - beginning of the 20th century).
In our country (Russia), cheap and rough wall clocks (the so-called “walkers” or “yokal-shchiki”) are made by artisans in the village of Sharapova, Zvenigorod district, Moscow province.
Walkers are small mechanical wall clocks with a simplified device with weights.
Walkers are a very cheap (from 50 kopecks) wall clock, with one weight, without a strike.
Here is what you can read in the Proceedings of the Saratov Scientific Archival Commission: (Published by the printing house of the Shchetinin brothers of the Serdob district, Saratov province. Serdobsk - 1913):
“...the production of walkers and wall clocks in the village of Sharapovo, which began in the 60s of the 19th century, continued to develop at the beginning of the 20th century... ...the production of wall clocks in Moscow was no higher than in the village of Sharapovo... ... In Moscow, the technology for producing wall clocks is still at a low level...”
WALL CLOCK IN SOVIET RUSSIA.
IN Soviet Russia The production of wall clocks was mastered at the Second Moscow Watch Factory, where household alarm clocks and industrial and outdoor electric clock systems were also produced.
The decision to create our own watch industry was made by the Council of People's Commissars in 1927. In September 1930, the 1st State Watch Factory opened its doors in Moscow, and in 1931 - the 2nd State Watch Factory.
Walkers is the affectionate name for a simple home kitchen wall clock. They were so simple, cheap and unpretentious that their production continued for many years. And it all started with artisans from the village of Sharapovo - “Switzerland near Moscow”...
WALL CLOCK OF MODERN RUSSIA.
Modern mechanical wall clocks also use a weight or spring power source. The accuracy of such a mechanism is: + 40 -20 sec/day (first class accuracy).
Wall clocks with a quartz clock mechanism and a battery power source are also widely used. They use a quartz crystal as an oscillating system. The first quartz watch was released by HAMILTON in 1957. High-quality household quartz watches have an accuracy of +/- 15 seconds per month.
IN modern life Wall clocks are used not only as instruments for measuring time, but also function as interior details and room decoration. Wall clocks often reflect the tastes of the homeowners.
Designers come up with wall clocks that amaze and amaze with their originality.
* ***** **** ***** **** *** ** *
The most accurate clocks are atomic ones. The most accurate atomic clocks are located in Germany.
In a million years they will only “sin” for ONE second.
We have to measure, check, and count time in life in a variety of fields of activity - technology, science, and in everyday life. All sorts of devices help us with this, the common name of which is watches. Time invention of mechanical watches unknown for sure. There is a version that they were invented by the monk Herbert from Auvergne, who later became Pope Sylvester II. And this happened at the end of the 10th century, but nothing specific about the design of the tower clock he created for Magdeburg is known, because This watch has not survived. The first mentions of mechanical watches in Europe come at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The appearance of the oldest clock mechanisms in England dates back to the 2nd half of the 13th century; Pierre Pipenard (circa 1300) is considered the inventor of the first clock in Paris, but the continuous production of mechanical watches began in Italy only at the beginning of the 14th century. In Russia, the first tower clock was installed in the Moscow Kremlin in 1404 by the monk Lazar Serbin.
The design of all watches was approximately the same. The main components of the clock mechanism were: the engine; a gear system, which is a transmission mechanism; regulator to create uniform movement; distributor or trigger mechanism; a pointer mechanism, as well as a mechanism designed for winding and setting watches. The first mechanical watches were driven by a descending weight. The drive mechanism was a smooth wooden horizontal shaft with a rope wound around it, to the end of which a stone and later a metal weight was attached. Under the weight of the weight, the rope gradually unwound and began to rotate the shaft on which a large gear was attached. This wheel was in direct engagement with the wheels of the transmission mechanism. The rotation from the shaft through a system of wheels with teeth was transmitted to the main (ratchet) wheel, which was connected to arrows indicating the time. To measure time correctly, the clock hand must rotate at the same frequency. If the weight drops freely, the shaft will begin to rotate faster, which means that the shooter will make each subsequent revolution faster.
Medieval mechanics decided to supplement the mechanism with a regulator for uniform rotation of the ratchet wheel. The bilyanets (yoke) became such a regulator. Since ancient times, the property of the rocker arm has been used 
in scales. If you place weights of equal weight on each pan of the scale, and then disturb their balance, the rocker arm will begin to make almost equal oscillations, similar to a pendulum. Such an oscillatory system began to be successfully used in watches, although in many ways it was inferior to the pendulum, which began to be used as a regulator only in the 2nd half of the 17th century. If the regulator oscillations are not constantly maintained, it will stop. To direct part of the motor energy from the wheel to the bell or pendulum, a release distributor was invented.
The escapement is the most complex component; the exact movement of the watch depends on it. The connection between the transmission mechanism and the regulator is made through the escapement. It transmits shocks directly from the motor to the governor to constantly maintain its oscillation. At the same time, it subordinates the movement of the transmission mechanism to the laws of movement of the regulator. The first trigger was a spindle with plaques; the trigger mechanism is called a spindle trigger. True, the accuracy of movement with such a regulator was low, and the error was more than 60 minutes per day.
The first watches did not have a special winding mechanism, which made it very difficult to prepare the watch for work. T 
the heavy weight had to be lifted to great heights several times a day. In addition, it was necessary to overcome the strong resistance of the gear wheels of the transmission mechanism. In this regard, they began to fasten the main wheel so that when the shaft rotates counterclockwise (reverse rotation), it remains motionless.
Over time, watch production became more complex. They now have many arrows, additional intermediate wheels in the transmission mechanism, and a varied combat system. In 1657, H. Huygens first assembled a mechanical clock, using a pendulum as a clock regulator. The daily error of such watches did not exceed 10 seconds. Huygens is rightfully considered the creator of modern mechanical watches. Later, the rope with the load will be replaced by a spring, the pendulum will be replaced by a small flywheel, oscillating around the equilibrium position in one direction and the other. This is how pocket watches were invented, and later wristwatches.
The first science of time is astronomy. The results of observations at ancient observatories were used to guide Agriculture and the performance of religious rites. However, with the development of crafts, the need arose to measure short periods of time. Thus, humanity came to the invention of watches. The process was long, filled with hard work from the best minds.
The history of watches goes back many centuries; it is the oldest invention of mankind. From a stick stuck in the ground to an ultra-precise chronometer, the journey is hundreds of generations long. If we make a rating of the achievements of human civilization, then in the category “great inventions” the clock will be in second place after the wheel.
There was a time when a calendar was enough for people. But crafts appeared, and the need arose to record the duration of technological processes. It took a clock, the purpose of which was to measure periods of time shorter than a day. To achieve this, humans have used various physical processes over the centuries. The designs implementing them were also corresponding.
The history of watches is divided into two large periods. The first is several thousand years long, the second is less than one.
1. The history of the emergence of clocks called simplest. This category includes solar, water, fire and sand devices. The period ends with the study of mechanical clocks of the pre-pendulum period. These were medieval chimes.
2. A new history of clocks, beginning with the invention of the pendulum and balance, which marked the beginning of the development of classical oscillatory chronometry. This period is still
Sundial
The most ancient ones that have reached us. Therefore, it is the history of the sundial that opens the parade of great inventions in the field of chronometry. Despite their apparent simplicity, they were distinguished by a wide variety of designs.
The basis is the apparent movement of the Sun throughout the day. Counting is carried out according to the shadow cast by the axis. Their use is possible only on a sunny day. Ancient Egypt had favorable climatic conditions for this. The most widespread on the banks of the Nile were sundials in the form of obelisks. They were installed at the entrance to temples. A gnomon in the form of a vertical obelisk and a scale marked on the ground - this is what an ancient sundial looked like. The photo below shows one of them. One of the Egyptian obelisks transported to Europe has survived to this day. The 34-meter-high gnomon currently stands on one of the piazzas in Rome.
Conventional sundials had a significant drawback. They knew about him, but they put up with him for a long time. In different seasons, that is, summer and winter, the duration of the hour was not the same. But during the period when the agrarian system and craft relations dominated, there was no need for an accurate measurement of times. Therefore, the sundial successfully existed until the late Middle Ages.
The gnomon was replaced by more progressive designs. Improved sundials, in which this drawback was eliminated, had curved scales. In addition to these improvements, various options execution. Thus, wall and window sundials were common in Europe.
Further improvements took place in 1431. It consisted in orienting the shadow arrow parallel to the earth's axis. Such an arrow was called a semi-axis. Now the shadow, rotating around the semi-axis, moved evenly, turning 15° per hour. This design made it possible to produce a sundial that was quite accurate for its time. The photo shows one of these devices preserved in China.
For correct installation the structure began to be equipped with a compass. It became possible to use the watch everywhere. It was even possible to produce portable models. Since 1445, sundials began to be built in the form of a hollow hemisphere, equipped with an arrow, the shadow of which fell on the inner surface.
Searching for an alternative
Despite the fact that sundials were convenient and accurate, they had serious objective flaws. They were completely dependent on the weather, and their functioning was limited to the part of the day contained in the interval between sunrise and sunset. In search of an alternative, scientists sought to find other ways to measure periods of time. It was required that they should not be associated with the observation of the movement of stars and planets.
The search led to the creation of artificial time standards. For example, it was the interval required for the flow or combustion of a certain amount of a substance.
The simplest watches created on this basis have gone a long way in developing and improving designs, thereby preparing the ground for the creation of not only mechanical watches, but also automation devices.
Clepsydra
The name “clepsydra” has been assigned to water clocks, so there is a misconception that they were first invented in Greece. In reality it was not like that. The oldest, very primitive clepsydra was found in the temple of Amun at Phoebus and is kept in the Cairo Museum.
When creating a water clock, it is necessary to ensure a uniform decrease in the water level in the vessel as it flows through the bottom calibrated hole. This was achieved by giving the vessel the shape of a cone, tapering closer to the bottom. It was possible to obtain a pattern describing the rate of liquid outflow depending on its level and the shape of the container only in the Middle Ages. Before this, the shape of the vessel for the water clock was selected experimentally. For example, the Egyptian clepsydra mentioned above gave a uniform decrease in level. Albeit with some error.
Since the clepsydra did not depend on the time of day and weather, it best met the requirements of continuous time measurement. In addition, the need further improvement device, adding various functions provided scope for the flight of imagination of designers. Thus, clepsydra of Arabic origin were works of art combined with high functionality. They were equipped with additional hydraulic and pneumatic mechanisms: sound signal time izator, night lighting system.
Not many names of the creators of water clocks have been preserved by history. They were produced not only in Europe, but also in China and India. Information has reached us about a Greek mechanic named Ctesibius of Alexandria, who lived 150 years BC. In clepsydras, Ctesibius used gears, the theoretical developments of which were carried out by Aristotle.
Fire watch
This group appeared in the early 13th century. The first fire clocks were thin candles up to 1 meter high with marks applied to them. Sometimes certain divisions were equipped with metal pins, which, falling on a metal stand as the wax burned around them, produced a distinct sound. Such devices served as the prototype of the alarm clock.
With the advent of transparent glass, fire clocks were transformed into lamp clocks. A scale was applied to the wall, according to which, as the oil burned out, the time was determined.
Such devices are most widespread in China. Along with lamp clocks, another type of fire clock was widespread in this country - wick clocks. We can say that this was a dead-end branch.
Hourglass
It is not known exactly when they were born. We can only say with certainty that they could not have appeared before the invention of glass.
The hourglass consists of two transparent glass flasks. Through the connecting neck, the contents are poured from the upper flask to the lower one. And nowadays you can still find hourglasses. The photo shows one of the models, stylized as antique.
Medieval craftsmen decorated hourglasses when making instruments. exquisite decor. They were used not only to measure periods of time, but also as interior decoration. In the homes of many nobles and dignitaries one could see a luxurious hourglass. The photo represents one of these models.
The hourglass came to Europe quite late - at the end of the Middle Ages, but its spread was rapid. Due to their simplicity and ability to be used at any time, they quickly became very popular.
One of the disadvantages of hourglasses is the rather short period of time measured without turning them over. Cassettes made from them did not take root. The spread of such models was hampered by their low accuracy, as well as wear and tear during long-term use. This happened in the following way. The calibrated hole in the diaphragm between the flasks was worn out, increasing in diameter, the sand particles, on the contrary, were crushed, decreasing in size. The outflow speed increased, the time decreased.
Mechanical watches: prerequisites for their appearance
The need for more accurate measurement of periods of time with the development of production and social relations steadily increased. The best minds have worked to solve this problem.
The invention of mechanical watches is an epoch-making event that occurred in the Middle Ages, because they are the most complex device created in those years. In turn, this served as an impetus for further development science and technology.
The invention of watches and their improvement required more advanced, accurate and high-performance technological equipment, new methods of calculation and design. This was the beginning of a new era.
The creation of mechanical watches became possible with the invention of the spindle escapement. This device converted the forward motion of a weight hanging on a rope into the oscillatory motion of a clock wheel back and forth. There is a clear continuity here - after all complex models Clepsydra already had a dial, a gear, and a strike. It was only necessary to change the driving force: replace the water jet with a heavy weight, which was easier to handle, and add a release device and a stroke regulator.
On this basis, mechanisms for tower clocks were created. Chimes with a spindle regulator came into use around 1340 and became the pride of many cities and cathedrals.
The emergence of classical oscillatory chronometry
The history of the clock has preserved for posterity the names of the scientists and inventors who made its creation possible. The theoretical basis was the discovery made by Galileo Galilei, who voiced the laws describing the oscillations of a pendulum. He is also the author of the idea of mechanical pendulum clocks.
Galileo's idea was realized in 1658 by the talented Dutchman Christiaan Huygens. He is also the author of the invention of the balance regulator, which made it possible to create pocket and then wrist watches. In 1674, Huygens developed an improved regulator by attaching a hair-shaped spiral spring to a flywheel.
Another iconic invention belongs to a watchmaker from Nuremberg named Peter Henlein. He invented the winding spring, and in 1500 he created a pocket watch based on it.
Changes were happening at the same time appearance. At first, one arrow was enough. But since the clocks became very accurate, they required an appropriate indication. In 1680, a minute hand was added, and the dial took on its familiar appearance. In the eighteenth century, they began to install a second hand. At first it was lateral, and later it became central.
In the seventeenth century, watch making was relegated to the category of art. Exquisitely decorated cases, dials decorated with enamel, which by that time were covered with glass - all this turned the mechanisms into a luxury item.
Work to improve and complicate the instruments continued continuously. The accuracy of the move increased. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, ruby and sapphire stones began to be used as supports for the balancer and gears. This reduced friction, increased accuracy and increased power reserve. Interesting complications have appeared - perpetual calendar, automatic winding, power reserve indicator.
The impetus for the development of pendulum clocks was the invention of the English watchmaker Clement. Around 1676 he developed the anchor-anchor descent. This device was well suited to pendulum clocks, which had a small amplitude of oscillation.
Quartz watch
Further improvement of instruments for measuring time occurred like an avalanche. The development of electronics and radio engineering paved the way for the emergence of quartz watches. Their work is based on the piezoelectric effect. It was discovered in 1880, but quartz watches were not produced until 1937. The newly created quartz models differed from classic mechanical ones with amazing accuracy. The era of electronic watches has begun. What makes them special?
Quartz watches have a mechanism consisting of an electronic unit and a so-called stepper motor. How it works? The engine, receiving a signal from the electronic unit, moves the arrows. Instead of the usual dial, quartz watches can use a digital display. We call them electronic. In the West - quartz with digital display. This doesn't change the essence.
In fact, a quartz watch is a mini-computer. It is very easy to add additional functions: stopwatch, moon phase indicator, calendar, alarm clock. At the same time, the price of watches, unlike mechanics, does not increase so much. This makes them more accessible.
Quartz watches are very accurate. Their error is ±15 seconds/month. It is enough to correct instrument readings twice a year.
Digital wall clock
Digital display and compactness - that's it distinctive feature this kind of mechanisms. are widely used as integrated ones. They can be seen on dashboard car, mobile phone, microwave and TV.
As an element of the interior, you can often find the more popular classic version, that is, with a dial indicator.
Electronic wall clocks organically fit into the interior in high-tech, modern, and techno styles. They attract primarily with their functionality.
According to the type of display, electronic watches can be liquid crystal and LED. The latter are more functional, as they are backlit.
Based on the type of power source, electronic clocks (wall and table clocks) are divided into network clocks, powered by a 220V network, and battery clocks. Devices of the second type are more convenient, since they do not require a nearby outlet.
Wall clock with cuckoo
German craftsmen began making them from the beginning of the eighteenth century. Traditionally, cuckoo wall clocks were made from wood. Richly decorated with carvings and made in the shape of a bird's house, they were a decoration of rich mansions.
In my time inexpensive models were popular in the USSR and the post-Soviet space. For many years, cuckoo wall clocks of the Mayak brand were produced by a factory in the Russian city of Serdobsk. Weights in the shape of fir cones, a house decorated with simple carvings, paper bellows of a sound mechanism - this is how representatives of the older generation remembered them.
Nowadays, classic cuckoo wall clocks are a rarity. This is due to the high price of high-quality models. If you do not take into account the quartz crafts of Asian craftsmen made of plastic, fairy-tale cuckoos cuckoo only in the homes of true connoisseurs of exotic watchmaking. A precise, complex mechanism, leather bellows, exquisite carvings on the case - all this requires a large amount of highly skilled manual labor. Only the most reputable manufacturers can produce such models.
Alarm clock
These are the most common “walkers” in the interior.
The alarm clock is the first additional function that was implemented in the watch. Patented in 1847 by the Frenchman Antoine Redier.
In a classic mechanical desktop alarm clock, the sound is produced by striking metal plates with a hammer. Electronic models are more melodic.
According to their design, alarm clocks are divided into small-sized and large-sized, tabletop and travel.
Table alarm clocks are made with separate motors for and signal. They start up separately.
With the advent of quartz watches, the popularity of mechanical alarm clocks fell. There are several reasons for this. with a quartz movement have a number of advantages over classic mechanical devices: they are more accurate, do not require daily winding, and are easy to match to the design of the room. In addition, they are lightweight and less susceptible to bumps and falls.
A mechanical wristwatch with an alarm clock is usually called a "signal". Few companies produce such models. Thus, collectors know a model called “Presidential Cricket”
“Cricket” (in English cricket) - under this name the Swiss company Vulcain produced wristwatches with an alarm function. They are famous for the fact that their owners were American presidents: Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
History of watches for children
Time is a complex philosophical category and at the same time a physical quantity that requires measurement. Man lives in time. Already with kindergarten The training and education program provides for the development of time orientation skills in children.
You can teach your child to use a watch as soon as he has mastered counting. Layouts will help with this. You can combine a cardboard clock with your daily routine, placing it all on a piece of Whatman paper for greater clarity. You can organize activities with game elements, using riddles with pictures.
History at the age of 6-7 years is studied in thematic classes. The material must be presented in such a way as to arouse interest in the topic. Children are introduced in an accessible form to the history of watches, their types in the past and present. Then they consolidate the acquired knowledge. To do this, they demonstrate the principle of operation of the simplest clocks - solar, water and fire. These activities awaken children's interest in exploration, develop creative imagination and curiosity. They cultivate a careful attitude towards time.
At school, in grades 5-7, the history of the invention of watches is studied. It is based on the knowledge acquired by the child in astronomy, history, geography, and physics lessons. In this way, the learned material is consolidated. Watches, their invention and improvement are considered part of history material culture, whose achievements are aimed at meeting the needs of society. The topic of the lesson can be formulated as follows: “Inventions that changed the history of mankind.”
In high school, it is advisable to continue studying watches as an accessory from the point of view of fashion and interior aesthetics. It is important to introduce children to watch etiquette and talk about the basic principles of selection. One of the classes can be devoted to time management.
The history of the invention of watches clearly shows the continuity of generations, its study - effective remedy formation of a young person’s worldview.
Craftsmen who make and repair watches are called watchmakers. In art, mechanical watches are a symbol of time.
Mechanical watches are inferior in accuracy to electronic and quartz watches (1st class accuracy of mechanical watches - from +40 to −20 seconds per day; the error of quartz watches ranges from 10 seconds per day to 10 seconds per year). Therefore, currently from an indispensable tool Mechanical watches become a symbol of prestige.
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The prototype of the first mechanical watch can be considered the Antikythera mechanism, discovered by archaeologists at the beginning of the 20th century among the wreckage of an ancient trading ship and dating back to the 2nd century BC. [ ]
The first mechanical watch with an anchor mechanism was made in Tang China in 725 AD by masters Yi Xing and Liang Lingzan. From China, the secret of the device apparently came to the Arabs.
At the moment, the oldest tower clock in Europe is located in Grodno, Republic of Belarus. They have been in working order for over 500 years. .
Later, pocket watches appeared, patented in 1675 by H. Huygens, and then - much later - wristwatches. In the beginning, wristwatches were only for women, richly decorated precious stones jewelry characterized by low precision. No self-respecting man of that time would have put a watch on his hand. But the wars changed the order of things and in 1880 the Girard-Perregaux company began mass production of wristwatches for the army.
Mechanical watch design
A mechanical watch consists of several main parts:
- The source of energy is a wound spring or a raised weight.
- An escapement mechanism is a device that converts continuous rotational motion into oscillatory or reciprocating motion. The escapement determines the accuracy of the watch.
- The oscillatory system is a pendulum or balance beam (balance).
- The mechanism for winding and moving the hands is a remontoire.
- The gear system connecting the spring and the trigger mechanism is an angrenage.
- Dial with arrows.
Pendulum
Historically, the first oscillatory system was the pendulum. As is known, with the same amplitude and constant acceleration of free fall, the frequency of oscillation of a pendulum is constant.
The pendulum mechanism includes:
- Pendulum;
- An anchor connected to a pendulum;
- Ratchet wheel (ratchet).
The accuracy of the stroke is adjusted by changing the length of the pendulum or the length of the spring.
The classic pendulum mechanism has three disadvantages. Firstly, the frequency of oscillation of a pendulum depends on the amplitude of the oscillations (Huygens overcame this drawback by making the pendulum oscillate along a cycloid, rather than along an arc of a circle). (Galileo published a study of pendulum oscillations and stated that the period of oscillation was independent of its amplitude, which is approximately true for small amplitudes.) Second, pendulum clocks must be mounted motionless; They cannot be used on moving vehicles. Thirdly, the frequency depends on the acceleration of gravity, so a clock calibrated at one latitude will lag behind at lower latitudes and advance at higher latitudes.
Balance
Moon phases
An eccentric is installed in a wristwatch (in watchmaker's language rotor or sector, since it is made in the form of a light plate with an overlay in the shape of an arc sector made of a heavy tungsten alloy; In expensive watches, gold alloys are used, which are even heavier), which rotates when the hand moves and winds the spring. Therefore, if you wear your watch all the time, you don’t need to wind it at all. The self-winding mechanism and the spring are connected by a friction clutch.
Self-winding has a positive effect on accuracy (the spring is constantly in an almost wound state). In waterproof watches, the threads that tighten the crown wear out more slowly.
Automatic watches are thicker and heavier than manually wound watches. Women's self-winding calibers are quite capricious due to the miniature nature of their parts. Automatic winding is useless for people who are sedentary (for example, those who are elderly or in a sick condition), as well as for people who wear their watches only occasionally. However, if there is a special device for automatic winding of watches called a “winder”, the watch can be constantly wound. Winders operate from household electricity (220v or 110v) or from rechargeable batteries. . The accuracy of watches with a tourbillon is: −1/+2 sec. per day . Often the tourbillon is made visible through a window in the dial. In fact, the tourbillon rotates the entire watch mechanism around its axis within one minute, which, due to the influence of the Earth's gravity, makes the watch rush for half a minute and lag for the next half a minute, which neutralizes the influence of the Earth's gravity on the accuracy of the time.
In 2003, the famous watchmaker Frank Müller invented new version pendulum Tourbillon - it was a two-axis Tourbillon Revolution 2. It consists of 2 carriages that can simultaneously rotate horizontally and vertically. So it fixed the problem [ which one?] , which was inherent wristwatch with Tourbillon device. A year later, the same inventor introduced the Tourbillon Revolution 2 watch, which could rotate in 3 planes.
The effectiveness of tourbillons has been questioned many times since their invention. According to watchmaker Alexander Milyaev, automatic machines make such balanced wheels that a tourbillon is simply not needed, and watches with tourbillons are “an indicator of the exceptional skill of the watchmaker and the high status of the owner.”
Power reserve indicator
Shows how many more hours or days the spring will last.
Special types of watches
Alarm
At the moment specified by the user, it gives a sound signal. The signal time is set using an additional arrow. The alarm clock usually rings 2 times a day with a traditional 12-hour clock face and 1 time with a 24-hour clock face
Chronometer
Initially, the chronometer was used at sea to determine geographic longitude. Nowadays, this is the name given to highly precise mechanical watches that comply with the ISO 3159 standard. In Switzerland, certification is carried out by Official Swiss Chronometer Control. A watch receives the status provided that no more than 10 seconds pass per day (15 seconds for second class chronometers).
Stopwatch
A clock that is used to count short periods of time (for example, in sports). The stopwatch allows you to start and stop the time count at any time, as well as quickly reset the readings to zero. Unlike regular watches, stopwatches are not designed to determine the current time, only intervals, from one moment to the next.
Chronograph
A chronograph is a mechanical or quartz watch that is also a stopwatch.