Royal watchmaker back to work after 297-year vacation

Thomas Tompion hasn't been very busy in the last 300 years. But during the last half of the 17th-Century, the master clockmaker's creations earned him a nod as the "Father of English Watchmaking." He was a celebrated craftsman who helped advance timekeeping technology with the use of balance springs, advanced escapements and regulators. And Tompion's esteemed client list included King William III of England and Cosimo III, Duke of Tuscany. If you didn't have a crown or a title, it was likely you didn't own a Tompion watch.

When King Charles II issued a Royal Warrant in 1675 enabling a Royal Observatory to be built at Greenwich, Tompion was commissioned to make two regulator clocks. The new regulators had to be more accurate than domestic clocks and demanded the very best from Europe's most prominent horologist.

One of those original clocks now resides in the collection of The British Museum in London and provided the inspiration for this official Metropolitan Museum of Art recreation. The Tompion Observatory Watch features a stainless steel case layered in rich 18K sgold with an outer dial of Roman numerals over iridescent mother-of-pearl. A complication marking seconds sits inside the black center dial at the 6 o'clock position. And the watch fastens with a genuine black leather strap. It may have taken nearly three centuries, but the chance to own a Tompion-styled timepiece was well worth the wait!