An amazing Congreve clock with a rolling ball on the desk

The Congreve clock, featuring a rolling ball, was named after its inventor Sir William Congreve and is a favourite among clock collectors. The original clock was gifted to the Prince of Wales in 1808 and is part of the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. Congreve was a prolific inventor, known for creating the first solid-fuel rockets at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in 1805, which were later used during the Napoleonic Wars. It has been suggested that his clock was designed for military purposes, with the first "ball" used to trigger the escapement being a musket ball!! This certainly makes sense, as the mechanism's operating principle limits accuracy to +/- 15 minutes per day.

Exclusive design from England combined with the highest quality materials creates the Comitti manufactory.

A sip of wonderful history

In 1845, the Italian maker of precision instruments, Onorato Comitti, travelled to England in search of a new future in a country enjoying the unprecedented prosperity of the Industrial Revolution, and in 1850 he opened his workshops alongside other specialists in Clerkenwell, London. Dedicated to the pursuit of perfection and innovation, he quickly achieved an unrivalled reputation for his recording instruments, including the highest quality mercury and aneroid barometers. In the late Victorian era, the company gained fame as one of the finest clockmakers in England, receiving an Honorary Diploma for the company's craftsmanship in 1888. Over 150 years later, Comitti remains a family brand, run by the fifth generation, staying true to Onorato Comitti's principles and continuing to uphold the company's international reputation in the field of luxury clocks in the finest traditions of English clockmaking.

Original Comitti barometers and clocks from those early days are now sought-after and valuable antiques. Interestingly, some Comitti styles created in the late 19th century are still produced today, using many of the same techniques and attracting the same wonder as always. Such heritage allows the company to offer bespoke maintenance and restoration services for all antique clocks and barometers. It was the architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries that inspired the greatest English furniture designers, Thomas Sheraton, George Hepplewhite, and Thomas Chippendale. Clockmakers were influenced by the fashion for the highest quality cabinetry created by these craftsmen.

The Georgian style and skills of master craftsmen, such as veneer cutters and marquetry makers, were employed using exotic woods sourced from around the world to create and adorn the visible areas of the finest clock cabinets. The long clock cabinets produced by Comitti today reflect all the skills and traditions of a bygone era. The highest quality seasoned solid hardwood and exquisite veneers have been selected for their natural beauty. Veneers are cut and matched, inlaid with marquetry, and laid by hand, making each piece unique.

Hand-applied French polishing processes are used to enhance the natural beauty of the cabinet. The pores of the wooden surfaces are filled and sanded using fine papers to create a base before applying lacquers. Finally, the surface is drawn out and rubbed with beeswax to achieve a rich natural patina. The long clock, produced by Comitti, is a work of art, a heritage piece that will be treasured by future generations.

Products made using marquetry

Marquetry is an art form that can be traced back to early Egyptian and Assyrian craftsmen and is essentially decoration achieved by creating patterns or pictures from veneers of wood or other materials. The zenith of marquetry occurred at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, when the craft reached the status of high art through royal patronage in France.

The arrival of William of Orange with his wife Mary and their court in 1689 initiated the fashion for this highly decorative craft in England. It had a direct impact on furniture designers, particularly on Longcase clock cabinets. For the first time, home furnishings became an aspiration, driven by fashion and the highest standards of design inspired by technical education and classical architecture. Comitti craftsmen continue to produce marquetry to these high standards using traditional techniques and noble, rare woods. The time taken to create these intricate panels is measured in days, and each piece is unique.

What does the invention of navigation have to do with Comitti clocks?

In the early 18th century, the greatest problem faced by navigators was calculating longitude, and thus determining their true position in the vastness of the oceans. Countless lives were lost as ships were wrecked on unknown waters, prompting the British Parliament to offer a reward of £20,000, equivalent to £2,770,000 in modern currency, for a solution. There were two schools of thought on solving this problem: astronomers, who believed the true longitudinal position could be calculated using the stars, and horologists, who understood that an extremely accurate clock would enable the calculation of true east-west position or longitude.

For many years, John Harrison, a self-taught English clockmaker, invented the marine chronometer, the most accurate timekeeper ever created, which importantly would maintain accurate time aboard a ship in extreme temperatures and humidity. The Comitti Navigator is a tribute to the skill, ingenuity, and perseverance of one man who changed the course of history.