5/21/2023 0 Comments Uk clockmaker![]() ![]() Britain already had an established watch industry. Image © Trustees of the British Museum The Downfallīut it was their scale of ambition that was to be their undoing. The movements produced were slim and compact for the time, but were still of a high quality. After their hope of reaching this sum, they had ambition that a further £250,000 could be raised soon afterwards. A considerable amount, but based on their support and the potential returns, a sum that should have been achievable. This is around £9 million in today’s money ($14 million). Their first task was to raise the required capital of £250,000. Ingold was to serve as the superintendent. The Dukes of Chatelherault, Brandon and Hamilton offered their patronage, and some 84 British companies had committed themselves as agencies. They were flanked by: Anthony Vieres, Thomas Hewitt, Sigsmund Rentsch and Mr Addison who served with them on a supervisory board. John Barwise and Thomas Earnshaw Junior took up the positions of operations directors. Ingold’s idea to produce watches in such a quantity and for such profit – they promised a net return of 30% of investment per year – was very appealing. The more realistic view is that these were entrepreneurs and industrialists who just happened to be in watch business. It is a modern idea of a watchmaker as a lone figure in a darkened workshop. Many influential scientists of the time, including Charles Babbage who would later go on to invent the world’s first computer, were called in to vouch for the ingenuity of the machinery. To begin this venture, some of the best and brightest of England’s watchmaking industry were involved. Due to the mechanised production processes the speed of watch manufacture was expected to be not only faster, but up to 30% cheaper than the hand-made methods in use by the rest of the industry.įrom the prospectus of the British Watch and Clockmaking Company – 1842 It was claimed that each set of machines would replace 150 men. There was a set of 25 machines for each production line, each one performing its own specialised task. All of this was promised to be completed under one roof requiring only unskilled workers to operate. His dream, despite not being able to speak English, was one that he was able to convince many of the ability for these machines to produce 300 watches a day – up to 100,000 a year – which at that time was half of Britain’s total output. With him, Ingold brought an array of inventions and machinery. Indeed a venture had started in Paris in 1838, but less than a year later he found himself running away to London chased by stories of slander and bankruptcy. ![]() He had already tried and failed in both France and Switzerland to inspire the same enthusiasm. With the ambitious goal of leap frogging Britain back into the leading position as the centre of horology.īacked by some of the greatest names in watchmaking of the day, in 1842 the British Watch and Clockmaking Company was founded at 75 Dean Street in Soho, London with the aim of mass producing watches with interchangeable and replaceable parts.Īn engraving of a self-branded British Watch and Clockmaking Company movement The Start-UpĬuriously it was a Swiss national, Pierre Frederic Ingold (1787-1878), that aroused this nationalist feeling when he came to Britain with the idea of building such a company. This is the fascinating story of the attempt to remedy this situation. In 1800 Britain produced around half of the world’s watches, however by 1840 for every one English watch sold the Swiss were able to sell ten. ![]()
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