hr: Antiques

Photo Credit: Squirrel Cottage

We often take for granted how we were able to calculate time. It is as if it’s just natural that we know of it. Looking back, it all started with the Sun Dial. Observing the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars were the key ingredient why the Sumerians and the ancient Egyptians were able to calculate time.

After the sun dial, the Chinese in 1000 BC discovered the use of angles in how to better place the indicating arm of the sun dial. It is still not accurate but it was an improvement. Then came the sextant, which evolved to a more complex instrument that is still in used up to this very day globally.

In between those significant inventions, people around the world tried their hand in calculating time. There was the water clock that ancient Mesopotamia used to calculate time. A container will full of water was created and a very small hole was made to let the water out and it helped them to indicate how much time was spent. There is also the very collectible hourglass, which follows the basic principle of the water glass. Many collectors are buying them. It was around the 15th century that this came out, just as the glassblowing technique surfaced.

Photo Credit: Svadilfari

Mechanical Clocks such as pendulum clocks were invented around 1510 but it was still not accurate then by 1577, a clock with a minute hand was created but with problems as well. However, each time an inventor discovers something new, it gets us nearer to what we have right now. 

Quartz clocks were invented and our lives were never the same again.

There had been so many beautifully created timepieces between then and now. Avid collectors are having a fine time hunting for them. They are not only fun to collect but a practical piece of work as well.

If you are so into it, check the following sites to get your hands on some of items on sale: Antique Clocks, Antique World, AntiqueClock, Pacific Antique Clock.