The Complication

The complete catalog

The Gallery

Thirty-two pieces of measured time — engravings, treatise plates, museum watches, and the trade’s own paper — the whole house, whenever you wish to browse it plainly.

On walls around the world

Not a poster — the centerpiece of a room

Printed large on matte art paper or gallery canvas, or framed behind acrylic. Here, The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579 hung in four very different homes.

The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579 framed on the wall
The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579 framed on the wall
The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579 framed on the wall
The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579 framed on the wall

COMPLICATION I — THE BENCH

The Atelier

The collection →
Horlogerie — Ouvrages et Outils — Encyclopédie suite “Horlogerie” (Carnavalet impression), Robert Bénard, after Fossier, 18th century

18th century

Horlogerie — Ouvrages et Outils

The Enlightenment walks into the watchmaker’s shop.

Horlogerie — Réveil à Poids — Encyclopédie suite “Horlogerie” (Carnavalet impression), Robert Bénard, after Fossier, 18th century

18th century

Horlogerie — Réveil à Poids

The weight-driven alarm, taken apart on paper.

Horlogerie — Vue Perspective d’un Carillon — Encyclopédie suite “Horlogerie” (Carnavalet impression), Robert Bénard, after Fossier, 18th century

18th century

Horlogerie — Vue Perspective d’un Carillon

The bell machine, drawn in full perspective.

A Clock Face and Its Mechanism — Engraving, Wellcome Collection, Unknown engraver, 18th–19th century

18th–19th century

A Clock Face and Its Mechanism

The dial above, the truth below.

The Watch-Maker at His Bench — Engraving, Wellcome Collection, Unknown engraver, 18th–19th century

18th–19th century

The Watch-Maker at His Bench

The trade itself, seated and at work.

COMPLICATION II — THE BEAT

The Pendulum

The collection →
The First Pendulum Clock — Horologium Oscillatorium, Christiaan Huygens, 1673

1673

The First Pendulum Clock

The plate where time became a science.

Horologium Oscillatorium — Title Leaf — Horologium Oscillatorium, sive De motu pendulorum, Christiaan Huygens, 1673

1673

Horologium Oscillatorium — Title Leaf

The founding document of precision time, 1673.

A Bracket Clock Movement — Rees's Cyclopaedia, horology plates, After Abraham Rees (ed.), c. 1810s

c. 1810s

A Bracket Clock Movement

English clockwork, drawn for the encyclopaedia age.

COMPLICATION III — THE SEA CLOCK

The Longitude

The collection →
Details of a Chronometer, by John Harrison — Engraved details of a Harrison chronometer, After John Harrison, 18th century

18th century

Details of a Chronometer, by John Harrison

The machine that solved the longitude, to the tooth.

Voyage Fait par Ordre du Roi, 1768–1769 — Voyage fait par ordre du roi… pour éprouver en mer les horloges marines, Ferdinand Berthoud, 1768–1769

1768–1769

Voyage Fait par Ordre du Roi, 1768–1769

The sea trial of Berthoud’s marine clocks, in print.

A Berthoud Sea Watch, Engraved — Period engraving of a Berthoud marine watch, After Ferdinand Berthoud, 18th century

18th century

A Berthoud Sea Watch, Engraved

The marine timekeeper at pocket scale.

COMPLICATION IV — THE CARILLON

The Tower

The collection →
The Orloj, Photographed — c. 1880 — Albumen print of the Prague astronomical clock, František Fridrich, c. 1865–1880

c. 1865–1880

The Orloj, Photographed — c. 1880

The medieval clock as the nineteenth century saw it.

The Orloj, Engraved — 1837 — Engraving of the Prague astronomical clock, After Czermak / Kandler, 1837

1837

The Orloj, Engraved — 1837

Prague’s astronomical clock in the age of the print.

The Zytglogge Sketches — 1534 — Sketches of the Zytglogge, Bern, Unknown draughtsman, 1534

1534

The Zytglogge Sketches — 1534

Bern’s clock tower, drawn from life in the 1530s.

Holbein’s Design for a Clocksalt — 1543 — Design for Anthony Denny’s clocksalt, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1543

1543

Holbein’s Design for a Clocksalt — 1543

A clock designed by Holbein, for Henry VIII’s court.

De Vick’s Clock of 1379 — Rees's Cyclopaedia, horology plates, After Abraham Rees (ed.), c. 1810s (depicting 1379)

c. 1810s (depicting 1379)

De Vick’s Clock of 1379

The verge-and-foliot ancestor of every watch.

COMPLICATION V — THE CASE

The Cabinet

The collection →
The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579 — Celestial globe with clockwork, Vienna, Gerhard Emmoser, imperial clockmaker, 1579

1579

The Celestial Globe with Clockwork — 1579

A silver Pegasus carrying the engraved heavens.

The Skull Watch — c. 1650 — Memento-mori watch in a silver skull, Isaac Penard, c. 1650

c. 1650

The Skull Watch — c. 1650

Time and mortality in one object, literally.

The Book Watch — c. 1580 — Watch in the form of a book, Diet Maye, c. 1580

c. 1580

The Book Watch — c. 1580

A watch disguised as a tiny devotional book.

The Astronomical Clock Watch — c. 1605 — Astronomical clock watch, Jan Jansen Bockeltz, c. 1605

c. 1605

The Astronomical Clock Watch — c. 1605

Moon, zodiac, and sundial in one palm-sized face.

The Painted-Enamel Watch — c. 1650 — Painted enamel watch, Jean Rousseau the Younger, c. 1650

c. 1650

The Painted-Enamel Watch — c. 1650

Geneva enamel at jewel-box intensity.

Tompion’s Traveling Clock Watch — c. 1680 — Traveling clock watch with alarm, Thomas Tompion, c. 1680

c. 1680

Tompion’s Traveling Clock Watch — c. 1680

Pierced silver by the father of English clockmaking.

The Repeating Watch — c. 1770 — Gem-set repeating watch, Francis Perigal, c. 1770

c. 1770

The Repeating Watch — c. 1770

The watch that strikes its hour on demand.

The Nécessaire with Watch — c. 1745 — Nécessaire with watch, Unknown maker, probably English, c. 1745

c. 1745

The Nécessaire with Watch — c. 1745

Time presiding over a portable world.

The Cross-Form Watch — c. 1600 — Watch in the form of a cross, attr. Robert Dieu, c. 1600

c. 1600

The Cross-Form Watch — c. 1600

A rock-crystal crucifix that is also a watch.

The Watch of the Love Stories — c. 1650 — Enamel watch with mythological scenes, J. Vrijthoff le Jeune, c. 1650

c. 1650

The Watch of the Love Stories — c. 1650

Four myths painted around one watch case.

The Engraved Egg Watch — c. 1590 — Egg-form watch, Paris, Denis Martinot, c. 1590

c. 1590

The Engraved Egg Watch — c. 1590

Portable time, hatched in the French Renaissance.

The Chatelaine Watch — mid-1800s — Watch with chatelaine, Unknown maker, mid-19th century

mid-19th century

The Chatelaine Watch — mid-1800s

Time worn as a waterfall of jewelry.

COMPLICATION VI — THE PAPERS

The Ephemera

The collection →
Horlogerie et Bijouterie C. Detouche — Trade Card — Trade card, 158–160 rue Saint-Martin, Paris, C. Detouche (house), unknown engraver, 19th century

19th century

Horlogerie et Bijouterie C. Detouche — Trade Card

A Paris watch house’s calling card, engraved.

C. Detouche, 228–230 rue Saint-Martin — Trade Card — Trade card, 228–230 rue Saint-Martin, Paris, C. Detouche (house), unknown engraver, 19th century

19th century

C. Detouche, 228–230 rue Saint-Martin — Trade Card

The same house, a grander address, more ornament.

Horlogerie Lasne — Trade Card — Trade card, 45 rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, Paris, Lasne (house), unknown engraver, 19th century

19th century

Horlogerie Lasne — Trade Card

A quieter Paris shop, keeping its paper exact.

C. Detouche, Printed Announcement — Advertising print, Paris, C. Detouche (house), unknown engraver, 19th century

19th century

C. Detouche, Printed Announcement

The Paris house as the Rijksmuseum keeps it.