Saturday Morning, July 25, 2026
Saturday's auction will include a multitude of clocks, from mantel to shelf, wrist to pocket.
From a closed home filled by a man who purchased at Brown Bros. for fifty years.
Clockworking tools also.
The Man Who Stole Time
Something didn't work. His figures were off, and the logic. He needed an experiment. A setup simple. But what? A perch, a spot to test his hypothesis. He sat at his desk and thought. A train. Movement versus motionless. A station platform. Passing trains. His eyes opened wide. That's it! Eureka elucidation.
Hamilton 14k yellow gold 22 jewels wrist watch.
Wrist watches, born from the necessity of aviation.
He loved these moments when the entire universe opened up before him revealing its secrets. Gift or genius? He never knew. He never cared. It was just so. Here was the perfect setup. Imagine you are standing on a train platform, he theorized. He rose from his chair and paced. The scenario, clearer and clearer. A man, standing on the platform, experiences two simultaneous lightning bolts strikes equidistant from him. One to his left. Other to his right. The speed of light, being constant, would make it appear the strikes were one as light rays from each strike would reach him at the same time. Laws of physics prove it so. But, what if...
Take the Last Train to Clarksville
Now, imagine a train passing that platform at the exact same time, only it was traveling almost at the speed of light. He visualized the approaching train. A passenger standing on that train, staring at the platform, would experience those identical lightning strikes differently. For him, on a moving object, the strikes would appear separate. Why? At this velocity, the light rays from the first bolt would reach him at a different moment than the second strike, not simultaneously. Thus, the bolts would be separate.
New Haven gilt-metal regulator clock, 14" H.
Again, with the speed of light being constant, what makes the difference? Of course, he grew excited. There could only be one explanation. Time. This theory proved time is not absolute, a hypothesis later proven correct.
Stanley #113 circular plane, 1879. Without Euclid, there would be no geometry, a system based on the three-dimensional plane. Knowledge builds civilizations one brick at a time.
This theory, introduced by Albert Einstein, shattered our understanding of physics creating an entirely new field of science. With this experiment, he proved Isaac Newton wrong. Indeed, it was the last train to Clarksville, or at the least, the final stop.
Daylight Savings
This breakthrough in science was the equivalent of an automobile getting hit by that train, perhaps an entire automobile lot. When Einstein presented his Special Relativity paper in 1905, the science community hardly flinched. So advanced was his thought, he was pushed aside, almost written off. Except for one man. Enter Max Planck, the German theoretical physicist, father of Quantum Physics.
Waterbury shelf clock, pressed wood angel design.
Max understood immediately the genius in Albert Einstein, retrieving him from his patent clerk job. With his support, Einstein was free to study. In his 1905 paper, Albert stated that the speed of light is constant in the universe. His follow up theory in 1915 laid the foundation for General Relativity explaining gravity's effect in the universe, introducing warping spacetime. One theory built upon another. Showing that time is not consistent has had phenomenal applications.
You Gotta a Second?
All are familiar with the atom bomb. But Einstein's work has impacted the world much greater. GPS. Global Positioning Systems. None would exist without Einstein. No worldwide communication. No smart phones. No aviation routes. Nada. Our satellite system relies on this knowledge.
French hand painted ceramic & ormolu brass three-piece garniture, clock 12" H.
Satellites contain clocks accurate within nanoseconds. Why? For constant readjustment of signals. A satellite circling the earth varies in time from earthbound transmitters because the farther an object is from a planet's gravitational pull, the faster time passes. Add in calibrations for signals to bounce of a satellite and the actual speed of that satellite, you realize how useful computers can be. And we are upset when our phone signal drops. Without constant recalibration, life would be difficult. For example, in one-days time, a destination spot on earth such as an airport would be off five miles from its true location. The mathematics are that precise. But not to worry. We will still be found at 2455 Route 413, Buckingham, Pa. A place where we study far more than physics and time. We study each other.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265L [bb]