Clock Collectibles

Also known as Jobst Bürgi, he was a maker of antique clocks who was born in Lichtensteig, Switzerland and was primarily active in courts in Hesse-Kassel and Praha. Like most antique clock makers famed for their talents involving a variety of subjects such as machineries and marine equipments, he was also an inventor of astronomical instruments. He was also a well known mathematician in his own right.
Like his fellow famous Swiss clock maker Berthoud, Bürgi was also very innovative and regarded as one of the most skillful as a mechanic during his time. It was even suggested that he should also qualify as one of the famed astronomers of his time, as he made contributions to astronomy like no other. His designs were of excellent quality, due to his unprecedented ability to create mechanical movements of heavenly bodies, of which too little were known during his time. His ideas were recognized not only as that exceeding the expectations of the many but also represented a more advanced insight with regards to celestial mechanics.
Him being qualified as a scholar was clouded by a lot of controversies because he did not have the formal education that was “required” in order for someone to be acknowledged a scholar. He had no knowledge of Latin as well, the language in which scholarly publications were written during his time. As to his records of work, he left only a few, which made him the subject of more suspicions regarding his reputation as a scholar. However, because of his vast knowledge and insights almost surpassing that of a scholar, he was acknowledged by many and was respected in many fields in which he dedicated his life to.
As a clockmaker, there were no sufficient or known data in which his technical knowledge of creating watches were documented. However, it was obvious that he would rise as one of the most celebrated (and a bit controversial) makers of both antique clocks and astronomical instruments alike. Among his creations were the remontoire and the cross-beat escapement, both of which were made to improve, through the orders of magnitude, the accuracy of what was then known as the mechanical clocks. These gadgets were acknowledged and later paved way for clocks to be used in scientific instruments which made it possible for men to time the passing of heavenly bodies alike in the telescopes’ cross hairs so as to be able to chart their stellar positions accurately.
Since he was the maker of such gadgets, he played a vital role in the development of the first astronomical charts. He was the inventor of logarithms as a tool (for himself) to be used for his astronomical calculations. Unfortunately, he was not able to publish his invention for quite some time. Nonetheless, the contributions he made were regarded as great additions to the then incomplete collections of assumptions regarding the universe, not to mention astronomy per se. Also, he was able to work with great people such as Johannes Kepler, because of his talents and passion for pursuing a number of careers which regarded and greatly acknowledged his genius in return.