A blog post by MA Conservation Studies student JC, who specialises in Clocks, on the recent conservation of a chronometer escape wheel from an 1830s English Carriage Clock.

MA Conservation Studies alumni Dale Sardeson talks us through the final year practical project he completed in Summer 2019; the conservation of a singing bird cage automaton from the Edward James Foundation Collection. 

Deciding which course of treatment to take on an object can be a near-impossible task, and even after I've finished working on a clock and it's ticking away happily on a test stand, I'll still be wondering if there was something I should have done slightly differently...

The marine chronometer signed by John Lilley & son from 1929 has shown evidences of a failure of one of its major components. The helical hairspring which is co-regulating the frequency of the balance (factor determining the rate of the mechanism) was broken by fracture near its lower attachment point. The aim of the project was to provide a replacement spring for the chronometer which would possess the required mechanical properties (toughness, elasticity, shape, composition …).

The Solar Time Clock is attracting international media and sector attention and is a unique, super complex mechanical clock which can be set for longitude and latitude. No other mechanical clock has ever been made with such a complication. George talks about his path to becoming an independent clockmaker.

West Dean College student Tabea Rude has received a prize for the best conservation-restoration project from the Southern Section of the Antiquarian Horological Society (AHS) as part of the prize-giving ceremony for all West Dean programmes.