1/31/2024 0 Comments Master clockmaker“When Lewis and Clark came to Montana, the single most expensive item on their expedition was a chronometer,” Enge said.Ĭhronometers were a specialized form of clocks specially designed to keep accurate time in spite of motion or variations in temperature, humidity, and air pressure. For those families who could afford them, the household clock was frequently the most prized and most valuable personal item they possessed. But they remained a luxury item beyond the reach of most people. At first, only the nobility could afford such a wonder, and the mysteries of their creation were closely guarded by secretive craftsman’s guilds.īy the 18th century clocks from Germany, France and England began to become more affordable. Hudson Moore, mechanical clocks for domestic use began to appear in the 17th century. No one was able to repair the Orloj Clock for another century.Īccording to “The Old Clock Book” by N. After his disfigurement, Hanus ascended the clock tower and sabotaged his own masterwork. Mounted on the southern wall of the Old Town Hall, the clock’s display includes an hourly “Walk of the Apostles,” and a figure of Death, represented by a skeleton, who strikes the hour in sequenced rotation.Ĭompleted around 1490, the Orloj Clock was considered so beautiful that the town councilors of Prague ordered its maker, Hanus, be blinded so that he could never duplicate his work. One of the oldest still in existence is the Orloj Clock of Prague, in the Czech Republic. These tower clocks were the technological wonders of their age. The earliest mechanical clocks were large structures, built to guide the cycles of prayer and the celestial observations of priests, astronomers and kings. Driven by gears, springs and levers, the technology is a culmination of engineering going back 700 years. In the late 1970s, timekeeping was still dominated by mechanical clocks and watches. In 1978, at the age of 23, Enge opened his first timepiece repair shop. Two years later he successfully challenged the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute’s exam to become a certified watchmaker. Russell High School, Enge was already certified as a clock repairman.Īfter graduating high school in 1973, Enge enrolled in a watchmaking course at the Great Falls Vo-Tech Center (now Great Falls College – Montana State University). While other kids were working on their cars, Enge was visiting resale shops looking for old clocks that he could tear apart and rebuild. “When I was 13 or so, I had an Aunt and Uncle who collected clocks. “I’ve always been intrigued by what makes something work taking it apart and finding out,” he said. As a teenager, Enge was fascinated with the internal secrets of gears and levers, and all things mechanical. “Except when I’m talking on the telephone or trying to work with a customer.”Įnge’s life of time began half a century ago. “I’ve gotten so used to it that I don’t even notice,” he said. A repeat performance is scheduled for just 59 minutes later. A new hour has begun.Īt his workbench, Enge sits unfazed. In the corner, a saucy Betty Boop clock swings one gartered leg trying to draw attention. Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nacht-Musik” competes with Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” The Magic Motion clocks twist and turn, while the Krazy-Kat clocks roll their irreverent eyes. It is a madness of bells and chimes some stolid and reserved, others frenetic and boisterous. One by one, hundreds of clocks join the rolling cacophony. Soon a mocking cuckoo rings in, wagging its tongue at the solemn grandfather. It begins slowly, with the deep, resonating chimes of a prim grandfather clock. “It gets pretty busy here on the hour,” Enge admits. Stop in at the store at 405 Central Ave just before the top of the hour and you’re in for a show. Few will be more familiar with counting the seconds, minutes and hours than Rick Enge.Įnge’s shop, “World of Time” has been a must go destination for people who care about clocks since 1978. 31st.Ĭome Sunday morning, many people will reflect back upon having the time of their lives. Beginning in Sydney, Australia and ending in Honolulu, Hawaii celebration of the New Year’s arrival sweeps westward every Dec. On Saturday night hundreds of millions of people will be watching their clocks waiting for the arrival of 2017. Time might be on your side, but it waits for no one, and though you can keep it, time will often get away from you.
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