Antiquarian Horological Society

The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In early 2016, the Society appointed Dr Patricia Fara of Clare College, Cambridge as its new president, following the untimely death of its previous president Professor Lisa Jardine. The Chairman is Dr James Nye.

The Society was founded in 1953. It unites collectors, scholars and museum professionals interested in the historical aspects of horology – the study of the art, science, social history and technology of timekeepers, such as clocks and watches.

The society is a registered charity under English law.

Activities

The principal meetings of the Society are held periodically, primarily in London. Meetings may also be multi-day seminars, held in a number of locations such as Oxford. The Society hosts a London Lecture Series, which from January 2020 has been held at St Mary-at-Hill, a Wren church opposite the Society's headquarters in Lovat Lane. The annual general meeting is usually held at the National Maritime Museum and involves a one-day seminar. Once a year the organization usually organizes an international study tour, travelling to a foreign locale to study historic horological artefacts.

Besides the main body that meets in London, there also are numerous Sections, most of them regional groups of members spread throughout the United Kingdom, plus five international sections (Ireland, USA, Canada, Netherlands) and three special interest sections with interests in turret clocks, wristwatches and electrical horology. Sections may hold their own meetings and in some cases publish members' newsletters or organize horological study tours. The usual focus is on the presentation of papers on horological subjects. Some meetings involve visits to museums, restoration workshops or private collections.

Library

The Society maintains an horological library, which is functionally integrated with the library of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers at Guildhall, London.

Publications

Antiquarian Horology & the Proceedings of the Antiquarian Horological Society, generally known as Antiquarian Horology, is the Society's quarterly academic journal, which is peer-reviewed and available to members, and to the public in a variety of public libraries.

The Society also publishes books on horological subjects, which are available to the public.

Affiliated organisations

In 2012, the AHS formally affiliated with the Royal Astronomical Society. In 2014, the AHS formally affiliated with the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. In 2016, the AHS formally affiliated with the Wales and Marches Horological Society

Sister organisations

Its main sister organizations in other countries pursuing similar goals are:

• Association Française des Amateurs d'Horlogerie Ancienne - AFAHA (France)
• Chronometrophilia (Switzerland)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie - DGC (Germany)
• HORA Associazione Italiana Cultori di Orologeria Antica (Italy)
• National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors - NAWCC (United States of America)

Arms

Coat of arms of Antiquarian Horological Society

Notes Granted 26 September 2023 at the College of Arms. Crest Issuant from a clock’s crown wheel Or the arbor Argent a sun in splendour Or. Escutcheon Gules issuant in dexter base the arc of a clock’s gear wheel Or the teeth engaging in sinister chief the teeth of a pinion Argent. Supporters Dexter a representation of Minerva Proper vested with a gown Argent trimmed Or crowned with a diadem also Or holding aloft with the dexter hand and pendent therefrom a mercury pendulum Proper and sinister an owl Argent beaked and legged Or crowned with a crown rayonny and gorged with a chain also Or pendent therefrom an hourglass Proper. Compartment A steel weighted foliot Proper. Motto Transit Hora Manet Opera Badge Within a circlet of lily flowers Gules seeded Or slips inwards leaved Vert alternating with Anemone flowers Gules leaves manifest Vert an owl’s face Argent beaked and crowned with a crown rayonny Or.

Sources

• Beeson, C.F.C. (1989) [1962]. Simcock, A.V (ed.). Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 (3rd ed.). Oxford: Museum of the History of Science. pp. 2, 3. ISBN 0-903364-06-9.

External links

• Antiquarian Horological Society website