What is Horology?
Horology is, essentially, the measuring of time, which started back in the days of the Babylonians. They decided on the ‘60 seconds to a minute and 60 minutes to an hour’ system that we use today, which does seem pretty prehistoric - seeing as scientists can now measure to the billionth of a second with atomic clocks.
The first ‘Time piece’ was (most likely) a stick in the ground and the time of day was measured by where the shadow fell in relation to it. This, naturally, lead onto sundials which came in a variety of shapes, sizes and variations. Of course, there were other available ways of measuring time such as candle clocks and our old friend the hour glass but these could often be effected by the environment around them. The first real mechanical clock didn't arrive until around the 1200's, and even this was so inaccurate that they tended to have only one hand and could loose around two hours a day.
However, with the increase of sophistication came smaller more decorative mechanical clocks that the wealthy would have in their homes. Now, these still weren't completely accurate but life wasn't as fast paced back then and no one really missed an hour or so a day!
The first real pocket watch appeared in the 1500's. Again, it wasn’t completely reliable but the appeal of being able to have your own time-piece in your pocket was much desired among the wealthy population.
The use of a pendulum for time keeping had been established around the time of Galileo, but it was Christiaan Huygens, a dutch mathematician, who successfully used one in a clock in 1673, clocks took a huge leap in accuracy and went from loosing hours a day to only a few minutes.
Over time, with the invention of hair springs and the implementation of crystals, watches became more accurate and complex, culminating in the development of a reliable, sturdy and desirable time piece that (I personally feel) peaked around the early to mid 1800’s.
For a more detailed explanation of the History of Time Keeping Devises click here...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_timekeeping_devices