Dutch horology

Huygens and the pendulum

Christiaan Huygens's application of the pendulum to the clock, made by Salomon Coster of The Hague, cut errors from minutes to seconds a day. Huygens also published Horologium Oscillatorium (1673) and designed a spiral balance spring (1675).

Regional clocks

The Hague clock, the weight-driven Zaanse clock of the Zaan region and the Frisian stoelklok and staartklok are characteristic Dutch types.

Clocks of the Republic

The Hague clock, made by Salomon Coster and his successors, is a spring-driven pendulum clock in a plain ebony case with a velvet-covered dial, sometimes signed 'Salomon Coster Haghe met privilegie'. In the Zaan region north of Amsterdam, makers produced the weight-driven Zaanse clock, with brass ornaments and a pear-shaped pendulum bob; Frisian makers made the stoelklok, a wall clock on a wooden bracket, and the later staartklok with its long 'tail' case.

Watches and the export trade

Dutch merchants carried clocks and watches across the world, and Amsterdam was a centre of the watch trade. Eighteenth-century watches for the Dutch market often have painted or engraved scenes on the dial and silver repoussé cases. A recognised group of 'Dutch forgeries' — verge watches with false English signatures, made in the Netherlands or Switzerland — shows how highly London names were valued.

Timeline

1. 1656–1657Huygens invents the pendulum clock; Salomon Coster makes it in The Hague — Pendulum clock by Salomon Coster (Huygens design)
2. 1675Spiral balance spring transforms watch accuracy — Balance spring (hairspring)