
Instruments · Clock
Clock by Martens und Cie., Germany, 1867–1883
- Maker / attribution
- Martens und Cie. (Created)
- Date
- 1867–1883
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Germany
- Place
- Freiburg im Breisgau
- Object type
- Clock
- Dimensions
- Höhe: 10.00 cm, Breite: 11.00 cm, Tiefe: 11.00 cm
- Holding institution
- German Clock Museum
- Accession / object no.
- 2006-131
- Credit line
- German Clock Museum
- Catalogue title (original)
- Schiffsuhr, Jess-Hans Martens, Freiburg, um 1865 (German)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by German Clock Museum (object number 2006-131), this is a clock by Martens und Cie., made in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, dated 1867–1883. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Instruments collection. Recorded dimensions: Höhe: 10.00 cm, Breite: 11.00 cm, Tiefe: 11.00 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
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)
Schiffsuhr in kardanischer Aufhängung (Nr. 1675), Jess-Hans Martens, Freiburg in Baden, um 1865
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Instruments spread into industry, science and sport: stopwatches, chronoscopes, metronomes, watchmen's clocks and time recorders.
Read the period in the timelineMore instruments from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Scientific and navigational instruments
Timekeeping has always been tied to astronomy, navigation and measurement. Observatories used transit instruments to determine the exact moment a star crossed the meridian, and set their regulators by it; navigators combined sextant observations with chronometers to find longitude; surveyors, engineers and physicians used counters, pedometers and timers derived from watch and clock technology.
Instruments in this collection show how time measurement supported science and everyday technical life. Their makers were often the same workshops that produced clocks and watches, and their scales and dials document changing units and standards.
What to look for
- Engraved scales and verniers; the units used (degrees, hours, decimal divisions).
- Makers' signatures and town names, often on the main plate or limb.
- Accessories and fitted cases that indicate the intended use.
- Inventory or institutional marks from observatories, navies or schools.
Dating clues
- Vernier scales spread after the seventeenth century; dividing engines after Ramsden (1770s) made fine scales common.
- Mass-produced instruments with patent numbers belong mostly to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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.
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