April 1872: Auguste Vérité’s astronomical clock gets a mixed reception

Our predecessors were not uniformly impressed with what is now recognised as one of the 19th century’s horological triumphs

In 1872 our predecessors published a lengthy article from an unknown contributor who had put considerable effort into describing a triumph of 19th century horology.

The timepiece – Auguste Vérité’s astronomical clock – contains 90,000 components, including 68 clockwork automatons, and its numerous faces indicate time, tides and the movement of stars.

Needless to say, the editors at The Engineer were not wholly impressed. They understood that the 39ft-4.5in-tall timepiece was worthy of merit from a mechanical viewpoint but they doubted whether such a clock warranted the time and effort invested into bringing it to life.

Unlike our predecessors, the astronomical clock lives on in Beauvais Cathedral, France, where it has been keeping time since being installed there in 1873.

Originally unveiled at the Palais de l’Industrie in Paris in 1869, the astronomical clock – described by the contributor as “an exquisite work of mechanism and art” – was built between 1865 and 1868.