Martin Burgess

Edward Martin Burgess (born November 21, 1931 ) is a contemporary English master watchmaker . He became known for the construction of monumental wheel clocks .

Life and horological achievement

Burgess attended Gresham's School , an elite private school in Holt (Norfolk) , from 1944 to 1949 . After a first career as a restorer of Egyptian antiques , he turned to timekeeping and watchmaking. He specialized in innovative , monumental clocks , often with a free escapement . In the 1960s, Burgess coined the term "sculptural horology" (meaning: sculptural watchmaking ).

Burgess is a leading expert on the subject of John Harrison , the 18th century watchmaker who built the first successful marine chronometer and made it possible to accurately measure longitude . Burgess used many of Harrison's techniques in his watches, including: B. the "Grasshopper escapement".

Honors

Burgess was honored as a

• Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA)
• Fellow of the British Horological Institute (FBHI)

Clocks

Greenwich clock, detail

• Sculptural Clock with Bells , in the former "Time Museum of Rockford", Illinois , United States .
• Second Sculptural Clock (1965), currently owned by graphic artist Donald Saff . The clock has a massive composite pendulum and an oscillation period of 2.5 seconds. The escape wheel takes a full 5 minutes to complete one cycle. A limited series of 35 half-size replicas called Concord Clocks was made.
• The Gurney Clock (1975) was donated to the City of Norwich by Barclays Bank to mark the 200th anniversary of the Gurney family's creation . The clock is shaped like a golden lion in a golden castle (both heraldic symbols of the city's coat of arms). It took 11 years to make the watch. It was initially set up in a public park, but in 1992 it was so badly damaged by vandalism that it had to be completely restored. Today it is secured in Norwich Castle Mall.

Publications

Professional article in "The Antiquaries Journal"

• The Mail-maker's Technique , Vol. 33, 1953, pp. 48-55
• Further Research into the Construction of Mail Garments , Vol. 33, 1953, pp. 193-202
• The Mail Shirt From Sinigaglia , Vol. 37, 1957, pp. 199-205
• A Mail Shirt From The Hearst Collection
• A Habergeon of Westwale with William Reid.

Technical article in the "Horological Journal"

• How Greenwich Observatory Lost the Harrison Regulators , November 1974.
• The Harrison Regulator for the Gurney Clock , July 1987.
• Looking forward to the Harrison Seminar , July 1988.
• Reply to Mr Greene from Martin Burgess , April 1990.
• Questioning Airy , July 1990.
• Harrison & H4 , November 1993.
• Quest for Longitude , April 1997.

Source:

More specialist articles

• The Grasshopper Escapement, its Geometry and its Properties , "Antiquarian Horology", Vol. 7, Part 5, 1970.
• Principles and Objectives , "Conservation of Clocks and Watches," Peter B. Wills (Ed.), British Horological Institute.

documentary

The documentary Clock-maker (directed and produced by Richard Gayer) is a film about Burgess and its monumental clocks. The focus is on the production of one of his largest watches, a weight-driven construction over five meters high and weighing around 350 kilograms.

Web links

• The Gurney Clock
• The Dent-Concord clock, replicas of the Second Sculptural Clock

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Gurney Clock , donated to the "City of Norwich" in 1975.
2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from June 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.