Huygens pendulum clock
The first clock with a pendulum – suddenly clocks erred by a few seconds a day instead of a quarter of an hour.
In 1657 the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens patented the use of a pendulum to regulate a clock movement. The pendulum swings at almost the same rate whatever the size of its arc.
The pendulum clock spread quickly to London and Paris. It made minute hands worthwhile, and most older clocks had their movements converted.
Materials: Ebonised wood, brass, iron and velvet
Manufacture: Built by the clockmaker Salomon Coster in The Hague after Christiaan Huygens’s designs.
The short pendulum that regulates the going.
The plain box with a velvet-covered dial.
The signature Salomon Coster Haghe on the dial.