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| Knebel was a renowned manufacturer of precision timekeepers used by observatories for astronomical timekeeping. He also manufactured marine chronometers. |
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| Timekeeper by door H.F. Knebel |
Regulators (timekeepers) were precision clocks that were employed as time standards in astronomical observatories or by clock repairer. The Amsterdam clockmaker Herman Friedrich Knebel built several precision clocks, such as the regulator dating from around 1840 and which is now on display in the Museum of the Dutch Clock in Zaandam. It runs for six months and is equipped with a compensation .
H.F. Knebel and his son (or nephew) Bernard Rudolph Knebel also worked for the Dutch navy. In 1809 Knebel was the first Dutch clockmaker to manufacture an English-type marine chronometer. The University Museum in Utrecht preserves an astronomical timekeeper (c. 1806) and a seconds counter (c. 1820) made by H.F. Knebel. The National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam houses a marine chronometer signed by H.F. Knebel dating from around 1825. The Boerhaave Museum in Leiden preserves a marine chronometer (c. 1816) and an astronomical timekeeper (1816) by H.F. Knebel.
Sources: A.J. Turner (red.): Time (Amsterdam 1990); C.A. Grimbergen: The evolution of the Dutch clock (Zaandam 1991); R.H. van Gent & J.H. Leopold: The Timekeepers of Leiden Observatory (Leiden 1992)
Illustrations:
1) Knebel regulator (MNU)
2) Knebel dial (MNU)
3) Knebel regulator movement (MNU)
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