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Few connoisseurs know that the veritable birth of precision time-piece making began in England, following a series of maritime disasters.
The history of precision horology began in London in the 17th Century and became a national preoccupation from 1714 onwards, when Queen Anne decided to create the Board of Longitude price in order to stimulate research into a method of calculating longitude at sea to guide her ships.
The most prestigious scientists, such as Newton and Hooke researched an astronomical method. But it was the horologists who proposed the unique solution, that is still valid today. The measurement of position by using differences in time.
Thomas Tompion produced the first precision pendulum, installed in the Royal Greenwhich Observatory and George Graham invented the chronograph. But it was John Arnold of The Arnold & Son dynasty who invented the detent escapement and the bimetallic and helical balance springs, and it was John Arnold who developed the first pocket chronometer, the famous No. 36. He additionally succeeded in reproducing high-precision watches on an industrial scale. For all these feats, he was awarded the Board of Longitude price in 1771.
Today, this perfection is reproduced by the Tompion 1671, Graham 1695 and Arnold & Son 1764 watches, which combine the art of great horology with the spirit of innovation that is characteristic of British Tradition.
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