Major makers such as Benjamin Vulliamy, William Frodsham and Josiah Emery continued to advance the science of horology, but international competition was fierce, and the UK trade suffered. The 1800s and beyond saw the peak and then decline of the trade in the United Kingdom. The development of the marine chronometer was advanced by key figures such as George Graham, John Arnold, Thomas Mudge and Thomas Earnshaw – most of them Company members. The 1700s saw further extraordinary advances in the field of time measurement, perhaps the most influential being the development of a practical solution for keeping accurate time at sea by the celebrated John Harrison – solving the Longitude problem. Important technical developments emerged from these makers that would underpin London’s growing reputation – inventions such as the anchor escapement, the balance spring, the addition of jewelling to watches, and repeating work. The roll call of distinguished craftsmen is remarkable – Edward East, Ahasuerus Fromanteel, Joseph Knibb, Henry Jones, William Clement, Thomas Tompion, Joseph Windmills, Daniel Quare, George Graham, and many, many more. The Company’s members included the finest makers, who helped to establish London as an international centre of excellence. The English Civil War severely curtailed the activities of the Company’s members, but the 1650s saw recovery, and at the end of the decade the ground-breaking successful application of the pendulum to clockwork by Christiaan Huygens, championed in London by Ahasuerus Fromanteel.įollowing the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the London watch and clockmaking trade enjoyed what is often called its Golden Age. The first Master was David Ramsay, former Chief Clockmaker to King James I. It specified that the new Fellowship should be governed by a Master, three Wardens and ten or more Assistants who would form a Court. The Charter created a corporate body for all the Clockmakers in the City of London and within a radius of ten miles around, with regulatory powers covering England and Wales. The Clockmakers' Company eventually received its Royal Charter on 22nd August 1631. The formation of a livery company was an expensive undertaking, and when a second attempt was made at the end of the 1620s, this coincided with King Charles I’s pressing need to raise revenue.

The 1620s saw a desire by clockmakers to establish a dedicated company as a representative body, but this was met with opposition from the other livery companies, in particular the Blacksmiths. In the early 1600s, more native capacity emerged, and makers belonged to a variety of livery companies – mainly the Blacksmiths, but also those unrelated to the trade, such as the Clothworkers. Smaller clocks and watches were imported, or the work of immigrant craftspeople, particularly in London.

Before 1600, native English making was mainly confined to larger clocks, for churches and towers.

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