Wall Clocks-A Brief History

Since the beginning of man kind we have had a desire to monitor our progress.Very early on we  began keeping records of our time in days,months,and years.It did not take long before we discovered a way to break down our days into blocks of time though.This was accomplished through the use of the sundial,most definitely not a wall clock!


As time went on there was a desire for a time keeping device that could be used in any conditions.This led to clock towers being erected in towns and city centers.These clocks were made up of large and cumbersome parts that took some time to scale down into a size for home use.The first home clocks were of a brass dial design and only available to the very wealthy.Many of these clocks were a variant of the “grandfather” style clock you have most likely seen.As they kept time a pendulum would swing underneath and a weight would slowly move to the floor until you reset the clock.This is of course why many people opted for an enclosed case for protection and aesthetics.

Later designs of the wall clock adapted a “painted dial”.This took a significant amount of cost of the clock out and allowed the more common people to buy a wall clock for the first time.Once this age was ushered in there was a greater variety of beautiful timepieces being built the world over.It is hard to imagine that it was thousands of years before the majority of mankind knew what time it was!This of course also helped standardize things such as transportation and working times the world over.

Finally in the early 1900s the modern day wall clock was born.Modern wall clocks as we know it are based on a quartz crystal design.It was found that when a low voltage was applied to these crystals they would provide a precise oscillation.This of course could be turned into a method of keeping time.This coupled with the modern era of mass production has resulted in a wide variety of both aesthetically pleasing and wide ranging priced wall clocks for you to enjoy!

I hope you have enjoyed this rather brief history on modern wall clocks.Please browse my other articles for interesting design ideas and placements of your time pieces.