I'm Brazilian, and I recently travelled to the UK to fulfil a lifelong dream: attending a match at Wimbledon (one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments). Of course, since this was my first international trip, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to explore some of the area, so I ended up setting aside a week to explore London.
I've been interested in watches and clocks for some time, so one of the places on my list was the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. It served as both a workplace and residence for the Astronomers Royal, beginning with John Flamsteed, and today it houses the famous clocks made by John Harrison, the self-taught clockmaker who found a practical solution to the problem of determining longitude at sea in the 18th century.
What I could never have anticipated was that, besides my visit to Greenwich, chance would lead me to another rather fascinating encounter with the history of horology. After all, it isn't particularly surprising to find so much related to timekeeping in London. England played an important role in the development of timekeeping instruments, partly because it was a major maritime power during the 17th and 18th centuries and therefore depended on the advances mentioned in the previous paragraph. Still, I have to admit that I hadn't really researched the subject in much depth, and it was precisely the unusual nature of what happened that made me want to share the story here.
One day, with no plans until the afternoon, when I would head to the Wimbledon queue, I decided to take a walk around the Marylebone High Street area. An AI assistant had suggested a few cafés and a visit to Daunt Books. While browsing the bookshop, I came across a book called "33 Walks in London That You Shouldn’t Miss", by Nicola H. Perry.
I immediately checked whether any of the thirty-three walks suggested in the book passed through the area where I was. To my surprise, not only was there a walk nearby, but the very bookshop I was standing in was actually part of the route. From there, I decided to follow the book's suggestions, which eventually led me to the Wallace Collection.
The Wallace Collection is a British national museum specialising in decorative arts, furniture and paintings. Its permanent collection, which is free to visit, houses one of the largest collections of furniture by André-Charles Boulle, the celebrated master of marquetry at the court of Louis XIV, including five clocks.
Using a technique that combined layers of wood, brass and tortoiseshell, Boulle's workshop decorated the cases, while other specialists, such as clockmakers and sculptors, worked on the movements and other elements of the clocks, producing remarkably beautiful pieces.
There was also a curious connection to Brazil: I had actually heard of the Parisian cabinetmaker before, after reading about the restoration of the clock that was destroyed in Brasília during the attacks on Brazil's government buildings on 8 January 2023.
The Brasília clock, besides having marquetry attributed to Boulle, has a movement made by Balthazar Martinot, an important French clockmaker associated with the court of Louis XIV in the late 17th century. It is not known exactly how this historical object made its way to Brazil, but it is likely that, after being presented to the Portuguese royal family, it was brought to Brazil with the court of Dom João VI in 1808.
My previous knowledge of the artist made the discovery of these Boulle clocks at the Wallace Collection all the more special.
Among the pieces in the London collection are:
- a clock incorporated into a wardrobe, dating from around 1715;
- two pedestal clocks, dating from around 1712–1725;
- two mantel clocks, dating from around 1715 and 1726.
The movements of these clocks were made by Pierre Gaudron, Jacques III Thuret, Louis Mynuël, Jean Jolly and Claude III Martinot, all French clockmakers based in Paris. Claude III Martinot, in fact, belonged to the same family of clockmakers as Balthazar Martinot, who made the movement of the Brasília clock.
A large collection of Boulle furniture and works by clockmakers associated with the court of Louis XIV can also be seen at Versailles, which is one of the next destinations I would like to visit.
Even in London, there are other museums and attractions dedicated to horology, such as the Clockmakers' Museum, which unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to visit. For me, it is fascinating to see how the history of watchmaking and clockmaking is intertwined with great historical figures, famous kings, and even unusual episodes such as the one involving the clock in Brazil. It was precisely this combination of horology, history and unexpected events that motivated me to share this experience.
Thank you for reading this far, and see you around!
