The Gitton Time Flow Clock

Here at Comitti Clocks we like to show you something just a little bit different from time to time and as we have a vested interest in artfully crafted engineering clocks such as our Congreve and Grasshopper models we do like to consider other novelty designs and concepts at times.

Bernard Gitton is a french physicist and artist who combines a fascination for liquid engineering with a love for novelty. He is well known within horological circles for his amazing and very entertaining Time Flow clocks.

The Gitton Time Flow clock has to be one of the most ingenious and inventive clocks built in the last 50 years. It does, in fact, embody quite a revolutionary principal and is a masterpiece of hydrodynamic engineering. Without going into too much detail (because it is mind boggling) the Time Flow functions on a principal of cascading syphons and vacuum locking and breaking that forms a system analogous to the escapement mechanism in a mechanical clock. The system takes its primary power from a pendulum which drives a pump. This concept of a pendulum driven hydrodynamic system with a very beautiful aesthetic has conferred a certain legendary status on this clock and consequently the original Time Flow is a highly collectable (and very valuable) item.



Time Flow iPhone app :)

Gitton is known for many other innovative hydrodynamic inventions not least his liquid 'logic' devices which are analogous to digital electronic circuits, such devices have been used to create an extraordinary water calculator that actually has the same functional principal as its electronic counterpart only using flows of water instead of electrons. Of course it is not quite as fast as the electronic version.

For those who are interested click the link below for more detailed information on the Time Flow principal including a very technical explanation of exactly how it works.

The Gitton Time Flow clock

The Time Flow antique clocks

Time Eternal - Oldest Working Clock

Salisbury cathedral

Salisbury cathedral clock is one of the oldest working timepieces in the world. We thought you may be interested in this nugget of information which also serves to remind us of our significant associations with horology and time keeping in the UK.

The clock is thought to date from 1386 and fell out of use for many years until it's restoration in 1956. As was common with many early church clocks the Salisbury machine does not drive hands on a face, but instead marks time by ringing the cathedrals tower bells by way of a striking train. At the time of its introduction the church had a much more significant place in the fabric of English society and culture than it does today, the clock was more important for its function as a device to remind the congregation(s) of the timings or intervals between the seven routine daily services rather than being an aid to other aspects of life which would have continued to rely on more instinctive ideas of time, if at all.

It is interesting to consider whether the assertion of the routines of religious worship or the technicalities of maritime navigation were the first practical motives for the social and industrial use of clocks.

New Coloured Chinoiserie Clocks

Here is a brief preview of our new coloured chinoiserie clocks. chinoiserie has been part of the Comitti repertoire since the company began more than hundred years ago. It is a traditional European craft form dating from the seventeenth century and largely pioneered in France. Essentially, a whimsical evocation of classical chinese arts and craft design married to the classic European renaissance style.


Comitti now offer three new chinoiserie clocks in red, green and blue to compliment our existing range on black lacquer. These high colour treatments are also an authentic chinoiserie finish or style. In fact, red was one of the most common base colours for traditional chinoiserie decoration.



The Comitti red Chinoiserie clock




The Comitti blue Chinoiserie clock




The Comitti green Chinoiserie clock

British Railway Clocks

Great Western Railway Clock c1870

Here is an interesting site dedicated to antique British railway clocks. Some of the designs have strong similarities to the Comitti Victorian Wall Clock and others. Railway clocks are particularly popular with collectors and thematic designers not to mention railway enthusiasts and heritage railway organisations. You can see that many of the clocks employ a particularly robust design with very interesting and often quite stout hands to complement heavy and bold face markings; these also include 24 hour scales. The site has clocks from all of the major pre-nationalisation companies along with early British Railways designs.




The Comitti Victorian Wall Clock

Comitti Congreve Clock

This is an animation of the Comitti Congreve clock, another popular and well known specialty model from the makers of the equally notable Grasshopper.

The clock is based on a design by William Congreve c1808, a very popular concept clock with a curiosity value revered by collectors through the ages. The solid brass ball rolls along specially constructed guide channels on a tilted plate where it then triggers an escapement which in turn tilts the plate in the opposite direction sending the ball back to the other end of the channel and again triggering the escapement thus reversing the process once more.

The function of the clock manifests an engaging delineation of the passing of time as a physical process of momentum. The Victorians were particularly keen on machines or mechanical devices that employed novel systems or appeared to describe, measure, or define the magical, divine or simple processes of time and nature, this was a time when the barometer, music boxes and all manner of automata became popular household novelty items.

The Congreve clock actually pre-dates the Victorian era by more than 20 years and many of the innovations that came to be synonymous with the industrial age though it is a highly advanced piece of mechanical engineering. The cycle and regulation of the clock is determined by very complex calculations which take into account the mass, diameter and velocity of the rolling ball and part of this is a function of the angle of the sloping plate, the length of the guide track and radius of the bends in it. The passage of the ball from one end of the track to the other takes approximately 15 seconds. The essential appearance of the clock gives an impression that it is somehow in a state of perpetual motion with only gravity and the potential energy of the ball as a driving force but this can not be possible as another form of energy is required to lift the plate and the ball at each end of its travel. The main driving force for this clock is a large wound coil spring and this provides the lifting energy for the plate which is then transferred to the ball that in turn operates the escapement mechanism.

please visit the Comitti website for more information on the Congreve clock and other traditional grandfather clocks, table top and wall clocks.

The Comitti Grasshopper Clock --- Animated!

Here is an impressive piece of work created by our new graphics junior, it shows an overview of the movement action of Comitti’s famous Grasshopper clock. This is based on a photo that has been used on both the Comitti site and some of our printed literature designed by the folks at the Gate.


The original form of this clock (an 18th Century design by John Harrison) can be seen at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. The animation demonstrates the movement of the double pendulums which were cleverly designed to counteract perturbations that can arise from changing orientation of the clock itself as would happen on board a ship. Our designer has applied the same animation technique to other specialty clocks by Comitti and we will feature those here in the coming days.

Comitti Grasshopper Clock in Chinoiserie

Comitti Grasshopper Clock in Chinoiserie

Comitti have just released a new version of the well know Grasshopper chronometer clock. This highly crafted and intricate time piece now comes with a base finished in Chinoiserie, a style of finish that invokes the feel of ancient Chinese decorations. Chinoiserie is in fact, a uniquely European style that is more a caricature of the traditional Chinese style, a romantic interpretation that appears to meld the oriental with a well established fondness for chintz in 18th century Europe. The Chinoiserie range is very popular and Comitti also make a wide range of table top (bell top) clocks replicating Georgian clock designs in Chinoiserie.

The Gastown Steam Clock

I just found this on youtube and thought it was a little quirky, the clock movement is steam powered and a series of steam whistles take the place of more conventional chimes. These clocks are very rare though there are other examples across the world. All were designed by the Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders.

Grasshopper Clock by Comitti

Comitti may be well known for their extensive experience in the production of more tradition clock designs and mechanisms but did you know that they also make a range of unique specialty clocks? The Grasshopper clock is a particularly interesting example, this exquisite clock is rhodium plated and based on a reciprocating mass concept employed in the first marine chronometers designed by John Harrison (1693 - 1776). It is a very reliable and robust design as befitting shipboard chronometers and more immune to changing orientation than a single pendulum clock.

For more details the Comitti Grasshopper Clock

Georgian Basket Top Clock --- Comitti London.

Georgian Basket Top Clock

This is a new blog for all those interested in horology or clocks, clock making and especially the collection of antique or reproduction clocks. We have a particular interest in Comitti Clocks of London, a very well established clockmaker that continues to produce the most exquisite longcase (grandfather) clocks, mantle, shelf and wall clocks, many of which follow design patterns that are more than 250 years old. Comitti is committed to sourcing and retaining a wide range of associated skills in marquetry, chinoiserie, carpentry and cabinet making and the most skilled craftspeople in these fields have contributed significantly to the ageless or rather ‘timeless’ production quality of the Comitti range of clocks.

Over the coming weeks we will publish a range of stories, links and articles which you may find interesting or useful. These will include news items or other interesting articles from Comitti themselves.