Curator's Chronicles The Curator of Clocktime, Dr Kristin Leith, invites you to discover more about her world of horology. Did you know that the concept of starting the year on 1st January was introduced only 443 years ago? In the context of our 300,000-year history as a species, this is a brand-new practice! Before the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, the Julian calendar was widely used. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and started the year on 25th of March. However, it was off by 11 minutes every solar year, which meant that, by 1582, important dates had fallen hopelessly out of sync by 11 days and 14 seconds. The Gregorian calendar was devised to address the shortcomings of the Julian calendar, and it was quickly adopted for use throughout the Catholic world. However, Protestant nations were slow to make the switch. For instance, it wasn’t officially adopted in England until 1752. Of course, we now use the Gregorian calendar in most parts of the world and start our year on 1st January. Yet, the Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in certain parts of the world. You can find out more here on Clocktime. The outstanding and highly complex King James Portrait Watch, made by the Scottish maker David Ramsay, around 1618, features a calendar disc that uses the Gregorian system. This was an unconventional, possibly even provocative choice, because the watch was commissioned by King James I and VI, a Protestant monarch and features his portrait. It was also ostensibly manufactured in a Protestant nation. One would expect it to have a Julian calendar, yet King James’ religious affiliations were not straightforward. Also, while he adopted the Gregorian calendar in Scotland in 1600, he refrained from ever doing so in England. On the agenda this month is my first visit to West Dean College, which is north of Chichester. The college is well known amongst horologists and is internationally recognised for teaching excellence in art, design, craft and conservation. This coming Saturday (25th January) I’ll attend Dr Tessa Murdoch’s lecture about the contributions of Huguenot refugee watch and clockmakers to London between 1540 and 1780. The talk is organised by the Antiquarian Horological Society and takes place at 2:00 PM at the Old Library at West Dean College. Visit the Southern Section AHS web page for details. I hope to see some of you there! For an exquisite taster of Huguenot craftmanship, see the Vallin Astrological Table Clock exhibit on the Clocktime Digital Museum. This superb miniature astrological gilt and silver clock by Nicholas Vallin was made around 1600. It is a marvel of multifunctionality: it tells the time, functions as a calendar and provides solar, lunar, astronomical and astrological data. On Saturday 8th February at 2:00 PM, director of Clocktime, Dr Laura N Young MBE, and I will give a talk at the BHI Scotland Branch when we will discuss the Clocktime initiative. We are meeting at the Canon’s Gait bar, at 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ. Visitors are encouraged to meet in time for lunch beforehand at 12:30 PM and notification to the group’s secretary is requested. Finally, thank you to all our subscribers for your excitement, suggestions and feedback. Cheers to 2025 and to the continued growth of our Clocktime community! Keep warm, and, as ever, I wish you all excellent timing. Kristin Leith
