It's hard to find it, but when you have some on your hands, you'll probably need to kill it before it runs out. Shveta Verma learns about the nuances of time, timekeeping and the fading art of the timepiece.
Since time immemorial we've been trying to keep track of passing seconds, and the history of timepieces is as fascinating as the technology itself. Our ingenious forefathers used natural indicators like the sun, water, sand, stars and moon to gauge time.
But the science and art of timekeeping has come a long way since then.
"The time will come when no one will wear watches or use clocks," says Bhagwan H. Sahsani, a senior salesman and an experienced and respected employee of Sindbad Antiques. "Watches and clocks have now become a fashion accessory because people don't need them. Time is everywhere: on your mobile phone, on the dashboard of your car, on your TV, on your computer, on your house phone, kitchen ovens, radios, MP3 players – time is omnipresent," he says.
The thought makes him nostalgic because as far back as he can remember, time has been part of his life. "My father was a watchmaker in Pakistan and when we went to India after Partition, he continued with his profession there.
I was born into a watchmaker's family and I have been in this business, and that of antiques, for the last 26 years," he says.
He remembers a time when clocks were an important part of life not only on a personal basis, but in all towns and cities where clock towers took pride of place.
"In the past, all major cities of the world had a clock tower. You can see the one here in Dubai and Sharjah but now no city will build a clock tower because the need is not there. Before, every household had a big clock – at least one big wall clock in the main room, but not anymore.
Everybody wants to keep up with the times and show that they are modern. Technology is changing everything," he says.
"The young generation is changing everything. They don't like big clocks; instead they want small, fancy, convenient timepieces that are compact. Hence, the demand for modern, digital and electronic products."
Though the need for clocks is on a steady decline, is the charm of antique clocks still alive? "Not very much," says Bhagwan. "There are hardly one or two people a month asking for a particular antique watch – and these people are between 50 and 70. Only senior citizens buy pocket watches and even then, it's one in a thousand who do.
When young people come to buy these, it's usually as a gift for their grandparents."When asked about the difference between clocks, watches and timepieces Bhagwan differentiates, "A watch is small, compact and can be carried in the pocket, on the wrist and even in pens.
A clock is big and cannot be carried everywhere. A timepiece can be either a clock or a watch, but the word is normally associated with clocks and mostly with a clock kept on a table."
"The word 'clock' comes from the Latin cloca meaning 'bell'. In ancient times people used different natural elements to gauge time and when Galileo discovered the pendulum, the real breakthrough in clock making came.
From big clocks to pocket watches to wristwatches, timepieces have graduated in terms of technology and things continue to move forward," says Bhagwan.
It's about time
Bhagwan offers the following definitions of timepieces. Sundials (lower left corner) have a long history and are among the earliest forms of timekeeping. Sundials don't need mechanical parts, only a stick is needed which is called a 'style' or 'gnomon'. When put into ground exposed to the sun, the stick casts a shadow and the position of the shadow can then be used to determine time. But since the earth's axis is tilted, the stick has to be aligned with the axis. Sundials are still used for their novelty by some enthusiasts.
Tower clocks In modern history, when clocks were not that widely available or affordable, most cities and popular institutions had a big clock either as a clock tower or as an integral part of a building, like a cathedral, that was accessible to public viewing.
These towers usually had more than one face to allow the time to be seen from various directions. Today these clock towers and cathedrals are mainly of tourist, historic or artistic interest. One of the most famous clock towers is Big Ben (replica to the left) in London, England.
Water clocks Known as 'Clepsydra', they are also one of the earliest forms of clocks. These could be used any day, anytime, anywhere because they did not rely on the sun or other daily occurrence. The basic principle was the use of a bowl filled with water with a small hole in the base. As the water dripped out, the level would fall and elapsed time could be read according to markings on the bowl.
Mechanical clocks are a recent phenomenon, a few hundred years old. They were an ingenious arrangement of gears, wheels and cogs turned by weights attached to them. As the force of gravity pulled down the weights, the wheels turned in a slow, regular manner. This mechanism is still in use but of course with a lot of improvement and innovation.
Train station clock This clock was a double-faced clock hung on a wall in train stations. These varied in size from a small one outside the stationmaster's room to a big one in the main station. These are now available in smaller versions and can be used at home for ornamental purposes.
Banjo clocks
These clocks are named after the musical instrument. This specific style of clock was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by an American. A banjo clock has a large, circular dial and a long thin trunk with a smaller base at the bottom. This holds the pendulum bob. Sometimes this arrangement is reversed with a larger base and a smaller face.
Wristwatch The wristwatch was created at the end of the 19th century. These were initially mechanical watches and remained so till the late 20th century when quartz came into being. Mechanical watches needed constant manual winding at regular intervals but later came the self-winding mechanism where the movement of the wrist automatically wound a watch. Around 40 years ago came the digital watch, which became very popular owing to its ease of use.
Longcase clocks In the late 18th century and the early 20th century, clocks were big and bulky. One of the biggest and bulkiest home clocks – a beauty in itself – is the longcase clock, also known as a tall case clock or more popularly the grandfather clock. These clocks were designed for homes with high ceilings, as they are at least two metres tall.
A longcase clock is a tall, floor-standing pendulum clock.
The face and hand movements are at the top and protected by a wooden hood and a glass front cover. The wooden case has a long pendulum and a door for viewing the moving pendulum. Like mechanical clocks, these can be wound and run for eight days and are usually meant to strike on an hourly basis.
Available at Al Baber Gallery, Mall of the Emirates.Carriage clocks Pendule de voyage in French, a carriage clock, as the name suggests, was designed to be portable and carried around. Before watches and small timepieces became popular and easily available, this clock was in use.
A typical carriage clock consists of a plain rectangular body with a handle on top. It's seen a comeback in recent years, but more for aesthetic and nostalgic reasons than anything else.Available at Marina, Mall of the Emirates.
Mantel clocks When homes were bigger, with a fireplace in the living room, people kept this particular kind of clock on the mantel, hence the name. Now a mantel clock is any clock designed to sit on a shelf, or mantel. A mantel clock usually has a horizontally longer base with a round clock in the middle.
The pocket watch The invention of the spring mechanism allowed clocks to be portable and this saw the birth of watches that were small and relatively lightweight.
They could be carried while travelling and were generally kept in pockets. Early pocket watches were usually attached to a chain, the other end of which could be attached to anything else. Sometimes one end of the chain was attached to the watch and the other to a monocle.
At a slightly later stage, when smaller pocket watches came, they could be worn around the neck like a pendant. High quality pocket watches became a status symbol and were often made with gold or silver. Available at Longines.
Cuckoo clock A cuckoo clock is also pendulum driven and when it strikes the hour it imitates the call of a cuckoo as a wooden bird pops out of a small window
to make the cuckoo call.
The cuckoo sound is made using small bellows and pipes that imitate the call. Since its invention, the mechanism to produce the cuckoo call has remained almost the same without variation.
Available at Al Fahidi Stationery, Bur Dubai.
Wall clocks A wall clock is any clock that can be hung on a wall. These clocks were very popular till a few years ago, but not many people use them now. Initially they were mechanical and had to be wound but after the introduction of quartz almost all wall clocks are battery driven.
Alarm clocks When clocks were mechanical, the alarm system was less common. It owes its popularity to the ingenious mind of humans who thought about this concept after the spring mechanism came into existence. Before this, a simple candle could be used as an alarm by sticking a nail into it at a particular distance.
When the candle burnt down, the nail fell off on a metal tray with a heavy thud. Available at Ikea, Festival City.
There have been so many kinds of timekeeping devices and timepieces over time, even within one category, that a separate field of study (horology) is dedicated to it. These clocks are only the tip of the iceberg.
Modern history has seen the biggest revolutions in timekeeping. Wee yet to see where modern technology will take it.
– Shveta Verma is a Dubai-based freelance writer
