British Museum

I went to the British Museum today for a quick visit to see the new 'The Sir Harry and Lady Djanogly Gallery' for watches and clocks. The oldest clock in the collection was made in the 15th centuary and is spring driven. The newest clock on display is radio controlled.

Some of the newer watches on display are a 1970s 'Accutron', 1974 'Polara' light emitting diode watch, 1976 George Daniels gold pocket watch, 1980s Omega 'Mega Quartz constellation', 1970s mechanical Hamilton chronograph, 1980s plastic Swatch and a 2007 Casio Waveceptor radio controlled watch.

Here are some photos I took in the museum:

Gothic wall clocks - 1500s

Travelling clock designed by Mudge c1768 - this is a very complicated clock

English clocks 1660 to 1800

In 1831 this Earnshaw chronometer was issued to Beagle for Charles Darwin and Captain Robert Fritzroy's voyage of discovery to the South Pacific

Table clocks - The left clock was was made c1450 but has been modified several times over the years. This is the oldest clock in the British Museum. The clock to the right is a model of the left clock showing what the original mechanism would have looked like.

John Arnold and Sons Chronometer

Atmos clock c1955 - never needs to be manually wound - it winds itself using changing atmospheric pressures. This clock was made by Jaeger-LeCoultre.