Clock by Geochron, United States, 2013 — view 1 of 1
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Clock by Geochron, United States, 2013

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Geochron (creator)
Date
2013
Country of origin
United States
Place
United States
Object type
Clock
Holding institution
German Clock Museum
Accession / object no.
Museu_ProvidedCHO_museum_digital_59692__technical_number_
Catalogue title (original)
Weltzeituhr, Geochron, USA, 2013 (German)

View the source record ↗

Record summary

Held and catalogued by German Clock Museum (object number Museu_ProvidedCHO_museum_digital_59692__technical_number_), this is a clock by Geochron, made in United States, dated 2013. The Atlas places it in the Contemporary Horology period (2010 – Present) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Catalogue description from German Clock Museum (German)

Seit 1964 werden "Geochron World Clocks" hergestellt. Mit der beleuchteten Weltkarte im Zentrum der Uhr wird mit einem Blick erkennbar, wo auf es gerade Tag und wo es Nacht ist. Auch Datum und Uhrzeit lassen sich für jede Zeitzone ablesen. (Deutsches Uhrenmuseum Furtwangen)

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Historical context

Contemporary Horology (2010 – Present)

Silicon components, connected watches, optical-lattice research clocks and a thriving independent scene.

Today time is distributed by satellite navigation and networks with nanosecond accuracy, while mechanical clocks are made as art, design and craft objects. Contemporary designers explore the clock as sculpture and kinetic art.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Mechanical Renaissance

Atlas type guide

Domestic clocks

A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.

Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.

What to look for

  • How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
  • The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
  • Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
  • The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
  • Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.

Dating clues

  • Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
  • Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
  • Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

Read next:Verge escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementFoliot

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