The Congreve Clock - By: Joey Pebble

The Congreve clock is a timepiece which was invented by Sir William Congreve in the year 1808. Unlike a traditional pendulum based clock, the Congreve clock uses a ball rolling down a zigzag path to regulate and monitor the passage of time. While his was not the first rolling ball clock to be invented, Congreve’s model is notable in that it improved heavily on earlier designs.

This unique timepiece works by setting a ball to roll down a zigzag track. The length of each track is set specifically, to control how long it takes for the ball to reach the end. When the ball reaches the end of a path it trips the escarpment, changing the angle of the tray, and moving the hands of the piece forward.

While earlier rolling ball clock models had been developed by those such as Nicolas Grollier de Servière and Johann Sayller, these earlier models either did not use the zigzag path track, or had to rely on multiple balls moving at varying angles to keep time. Congreve’s clock improved on these earlier models with a simple and elegant design. This design was actually improved upon by Congreve himself in later models, where he switched from a gravity weight driven design to one which utilized springs.

The Congreve clock was patented in 1808, and Congreve commissioned Gravel and Tolkein to build the first model later that same year. This first timepiece was presented as a gift to the Prince of Wales.

The design of the clock was more of a novelty than a real step forward in timekeeping design. The clock itself was relatively accurate, but the hands moved at choppy intervals, with the minute hands moving between one and four times each second. In all, the Congreve clock is really an example of a clever idea, executed in a clever manner.

The Congreve clock is a timepiece which was invented by Sir William Congreve in the year 1808. Unlike a traditional pendulum based clock, the Congreve clock uses a ball rolling down a zigzag path to regulate and monitor the passage of time. While his was not the first rolling ball clock to be invented, Congreve’s model is notable in that it improved heavily on earlier designs.

This article was written by style philosopher and time historian Joey Pebble, on behalf of his line of ancient stone wall clocks. These clocks are made from real pieces of mountain born natural stone, and each one is made unique by the individual features and colors found in the surface of the stone.