Simon Lachez

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Silver pocket watch from Simon Lachez.

Simon Lachez (* 1648 in Utrecht ; † 1723 there ; pseudonym: Simon Simons ) was a Dutch watchmaker and at times tenant of the Sint Eloyen Gasthuis , the guild house of the blacksmiths' guild in Utrecht.

Life and horological achievement

Lachez was the youngest of three sons of the married couple Simon de la Sus and Trijntje Jansdr. born and baptized on September 30, 1648 in the Waalse Kerk in Utrecht.

His father had come to the Netherlands in 1635 as a soldier in the French army to fight for independence from Spain in the Spanish-Dutch War . Shortly after Simon's birth, the father went to France to inherit, but never returned to the family. After their mother's death in 1656, the three brothers Simon, Jan and Isaac came into the care of the Stads-Ambachtskinderhuis , an orphanage in Utrecht.

Between 1657 and 1660 Lachez did an apprenticeship with a cloth maker under his pseudonym Simon Simons , only then did his career as a watchmaker begin. From 1661 Egbert Jans van Leeuwarden was his teacher for four years. The apprenticeship contract was extended in 1665 to learn how to make a pendulum clockwork. Simon Lachez himself later became the teacher of Jan van Leeuwarden, the son of his own teacher.

At Easter 1669 Lachez left the orphanage and one year later married Petronella van der Eem, with whom he had eleven children. Lachez acquired the civil rights of the city of Utrecht in 1674, joined the blacksmiths guild as a full member and was allowed to call himself a master watchmaker. Between 1690 and 1719 he was tenant of the Sint Eloyen Gasthuis guild house , and from 1694 to 1710 also in the function of head of the house. On January 25, 1702 he was appointed guild master for two years.

Simon Lachez died in 1723 and was buried in the Buurkerk , the guild church of Utrecht.

Preserved watches

At least the following watches have survived from Simon Lachez:

  • Two Haagse Klokken , one of which is in the Museum Willet Holthuysen in Amsterdam and the second is privately owned,
  • A silver pocket watch owned by the Centraal Museum Utrecht .

Well-known apprentices

  • Jan (Egberts) van Leeuwarden, son of his teacher Egbert Jans van Leeuwarden, apprentice from 1682.
  • Hendrick van Diest from Breda , apprentice from 1683.
  • Isaac Lachez, his son.
  • Simon Simonse, apprentice from 1703.
  • Arnoldus de Swart, his grandson, apprentice from 1710.
  • Willem Dadelbeek, apprentice from 1720.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ An exact date of birth is not known.
  2. ↑ The text of the contract read:
    April 22, 1661 heeft Egbert Jans van Leeuwaerden horlogiemaecker in de Minnebroederstraet aangenomen Symon Symons om hem 't voors. (voorsegde) hantwerck te empty end sall 't leerkintsgeld betaelen end supply reetschap schorteldoeck ofte schootsveel end nor t'eynden de twee jaeren een daelder in de spaerbus end in' t voor 't huys vijff gulden .
  3. ↑ Het Utrechts Archief: Archief Burger Weeshuis, inv.nr. 768G: besteding van weeskinderen bij particulate. 1665
    Egbert Jans van Leeuwaerden heeft voor den tijt van four jaeren aengenomen om (…) voort hantwerck te empty soo van groot as cleyn werck slingerwerck end sall boven vrij reetschap vrij schorteldoeck end yder jaer een daelder in de spaerbusaten nor sckes jaer . Actum ut supra Symon Symons. Egbert Jans van Leeuwaerden.
personal data
SURNAME Lachez, Simon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simons, Simon (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch watchmaker
DATE OF BIRTH baptized September 30, 1648
PLACE OF BIRTH Utrecht
DATE OF DEATH 1723
Place of death Utrecht