Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

The Mastery of Time

• The Mastery of Time
• Press release
• Launch
• American launch of the Mastery of Time in New York

Launch

"The Mastery of Time" A complete history of time measurement for all

The art of time measurement requires considerable patience; describing its progress does too!  After years of research and study, Dominique Fléchon presents The Mastery of Time, a major work that traces timekeeping from its origins to the present day.  This complete and easily-readable history fills a void of more than half a century in publications on this theme.

A book that examines every timekeeping instrument…

How familiar are you with tower clocks, domestic clocks, atomic clocks, monumental clocks or pocket watches?  Dominique Fléchon has compiled a complete history of horology that includes non-mechanical clocks and, unusually, wristwatches.  This expert has studied them one by one, from the very first timekeeping instruments to the modern-day watch.  Forget about the 30-year gap that usually separates a new book on horological history from the models of today:  The Mastery of Time brings readers up to the present and suggests what the future might hold.

… in a way we can all understand!

Whether you're a novice, a seasoned collector, a professional, or not at all technically-minded, all that matters is your interest in the measurement of time.  This lavishly illustrated book addresses its subject both chronologically and by theme.  Short, stand-alone texts spotlight a particular topic while the main body of text provides an up-to-date history of timekeeping.  The techniques of watchmaking are alluded to more than they are described, thus facilitating understanding.  A detailed glossary and index provide additional information as required.

Now over to the expert!

Dominique Fléchon, were there ever to be a Volume II of The Mastery of Time, which major invention would you like it to include?

A lubricant-free watch on every wrist.  The lubricant-free watch already exists, mainly as a prototype, but its complexity and consequently cost put it virtually beyond reach.
Such an innovation would minimise the need for servicing and therefore the major inconvenience of having to regularly hand over one's watch for maintenance.  Watchmakers were investigating the subject well before Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), who developed a virtually oil-free escapement.  So to answer your question, my wish for watchmaking would be a lubricant-free watch at a price suitable for large-scale production.

Would you say we have now mastered the measurement of time?

Yes, insofar as current needs require.  For ordinary purposes, precision of one to two minutes a day is sufficient.  However, we have yet to master time in industries such as information technology and aeronautics, where precision already verges on one-billionth of a second.  Tomorrow, these industries will need precision to ten-billionths of a second!  Time measurement must keep pace with, even anticipate, these future developments.

Dominique Fléchon would like to see a lubricant-free watch for all.  Here at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, we're for an understanding of watchmaking for all.  Ready to join us?

Order the book "The Mastery of Time"