Maker, Unknown, probably
France or Belgium. c. 1820. Movement 10"h x 5"w x 3.75"d. /
13.5"h x 8" diameter over dome. Robert Robin endless loop type remontoire; 3.75
minute cycle 1. Tic-tac (recoil) escapement 0.6
second period pendulum, silk suspension. Two train, compound count wheel quarter strike on
two bells using one vertically articulated hammer, strike train speed mediated by a
pendulum rather than conventional fly fan, but a conventional fly is used to mediate
the remontoire rewind cycle. Strike control uses 'kick-starting' method. Instead of the use of clock hands, the dial rotates
counterclockwise against a fixed pointer.
1. The Robin remontoire was an invention of Robert Robin, France. In
1772 he presented a paper to the Academie Royale de Sciences on his remontoire for which
he is best known. It is based upon the Christiaan Huygens endless rope system invented by
Huygens in 1658 as means for maintaining power to a clock mechanism while it is being
wound (maintaining power system). Robin's genius was to make this endless rope maintaining
power system automatic through one of the wheels in the Huygens system
being powered by the main going barrel and released periodically by a detent connected to
the Huygens remontoire weight. This relatively simple, reliable system allowed a clock to
have the portability of a spring-driven clock with the constant power of a weight driven
clock. It also serves the same purpose as any other train remontoire of isolating the
escapement from the inaccuracies found through the rest of the clock train