"Chronometer 1" the Seyffert precision pocket watch of Alexander Humbold

It wasn't until the invention of the pendulum in the 17th century that clocks became true precision instruments. With the miniaturization of technical components and improved materials and manufacturing techniques, pocket watches also became prestigious and valuable pieces of jewelry from the late 17th century onward.

These precious pieces were extremely popular and, starting in the early 19th century, evolved into pure precision watches. Increasingly specialized scientific research provided additional impetus for the production of more reliable timepieces and other measuring instruments. Dresden plays a prominent role in the history of German precision watchmaking.

One man significantly shaped this industry and made the city known beyond the region: Johann Heinrich Seyffert (1751-1817). Seyffert was a self-taught watchmaker and thus represents an exceptional figure in precision watchmaking.

He manufactured pocket chronometers, travel pendulums for longitude determination, and grandfather clocks. In total, Seyffert built around 120 clocks. He was inspector of the Mathematical-Physical Salon from 1801 and was one of the first to use the term "chronometer" for pocket watches.

In order to build a portable watch that functioned as accurately as possible, Seyffert studied similar pocket watches from England. At this time, English and French watchmaking were already highly specialized, partly due to extensive division of labor in production.

Success in precision watchmaking is determined by technical knowledge and production organization. For Seyffert, these relationships have not yet been conclusively clarified. The fact that the watchmaker was already able to make a name for himself at this time is primarily due to the personal networks of leading figures in science and natural science that existed at the time.

So it was almost inevitable that none other than the great polymath Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) used the pocket watch that Seyffert called “Chronometer 1”.

This chronometer was the first precise pocket watch ever manufactured in the German-speaking world. It is extremely significant that the explorer took the watch made by Seyffert with him on his legendary South American expedition, which he embarked on in 1799.

In total, his luggage probably contained around fifty measuring instruments. The distinguished naturalist himself maintained contact with Dresden. Humboldt was one of the most important scholars of the 19th century, and his boundless curiosity and thirst for research extended to almost all areas of the natural sciences.

His most famous books include "Views of Nature" (1808), "Travel to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent" (1814-1831) and "Cosmos" in five volumes (1845-1862).

Humboldt was aware of the epochal significance of his Latin American journey and wrote: "What happiness has been opened to me! My head is dizzy with joy. Man must desire what is good and great. The rest depends on fate." Precision clocks held a very special significance for Humboldt and his researching contemporaries, as the example made by Seyffert impressively demonstrates.

The separate chapter rings for the hour, minute, and second are arranged in a triangle on this watch, forming a so-called "regulator dial." This expresses the highest standards of precision and ease of use. This allows the displays to be easily read even in poor lighting conditions.

The precise time reading also allowed Humboldt to determine his exact location. The primary goal and purpose of this highly accurate clock was to determine longitude.

The clock had to keep the time of the starting point, then the local time of the respective location was compared with the starting time and the geographical longitude could be calculated using the difference.

This chronometer not only provided precise time measurements, but also determined the respective longitudes using a sophisticated method. For Humboldt, this was the ideal precision instrument for mapping the world in detail.