Precious Time: A Tall-Case Regulator Clock, 1824

Regulator Clock
1824
The Royal
Collection

The son of George III and Queen Charlotte, King George IV, had a keen interest in science and mechanics and was always fascinated by clocks. In the early Nineteenth Century, as the science of horology became more precise, regulator clocks (pendulum clocks) were produced which would keep extremely accurate time.


In his quest for the perfect clock, King George IV purchased this tall-case mahogany regulator clock from its makers-- Abraham-Louis and Antoine-Louis Breguet. The clock is unique inasmuch as it has two pendulums with two separate movements. Each pendulum swings in the opposite direction of the other. The theory was that the sympathetic motion would keep each movement at a level of extreme accuracy. On one side, the apparent and mean time were displayed. On the other, the date and time were displayed. The only peculiarity is that the second hand on the right clock face moves counterclockwise.