Electric regulator with mercury bob, 1897

Overview

This is a very early clock made by the Synchronome Company, and the only clock known from this period of the company’s history to include a mercury-compensated pendulum – a common feature of high-class nineteenth-century regulators. The movement is thought to have been made in England, and it includes an elaborate counterpoise. It is also clearly experimental: the mounting board, like the case, is crude and it carries a 1000-ohm wire-wound resistor, presumably for spark suppression. After several further years of experimentation, Synchronome – headed by George Bennett Bowell and Frank Hope-Jones – would establish themselves as one of Britain’s major manufacturers of reliable electric clocks.