Antique Marine Chronometers

As one of the most accurate kinds of analogue clocks available, marine chronometers were designed to be used as a portable time standard, and were used on ships to determine longitude and therefore a ship’s position in relation to other co-ordinates at sea. In the eighteenth century, one man, John Harrison, devoted over 30 years of his life to perfecting a reliable marine chronometer. The use of marine chronometers on board all British ships for the next century and beyond was testimony to Harrison’s major technical achievement, and played a role in accelerating the Age of Discovery and the growth of the British Empire through control of the seas. Antique marine chronometers are highly collectible and popular, not only with antique clock enthusiasts but also with those who collect nautical antiques. Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks has a number of marine chronometers from the mid-nineteenth century, each in stunning condition and working to astonishing precision. They would make a fine addition to any antique clock collection.