Astron 12 Victorian

The story of Astron 12

My Great Great Great Grandfather, Johan Jacob Frei was a Swiss clockmaker. He was apprenticed to the finest watchmaker in Switzerland. But Johan was a recalcitrant young man. He was different from the others. He felt that it was too easy to copy everyone else’s idea of what a watch should be. He could not understand why the minute hand was larger than the hour hand, “Isn’t an hour the sum of 60 minutes?” He would tell anyone whose ear he could bend. This was usually after 1 too many Schnapps.

“And what about Galileo?” He would shout.

“Which gal?” would come the reply.

“He saw that moons revolved around planets, and planets revolved around the Sun!”

“Pipe down or you’ll be seeing stars” said the barman. He was a stout fella and Johan was no match for him. But he was no match for Johan’s intellect.

It seems that only he was interested in things like orreries, and telescopes and galaxies in the heavens.

He had a passing interest too in Astrology. All the rage at the time in the Ladies’ social circles. He had to keep that interest to himself.

Davinci. Ah Davinci could distract Johan from sweeping the metal fragments from the workman’s bench, or refilling the Clockmakers oil canister with rendered whale blubber. He would sneak into the Barrister’s office to read the man’s copy of Davinci’s ideas. The book had been payment for a business deal gone sour and the legal wrangle that ensued. It seemed only Johan had an interest in the book, as it was always where he had left it. Of course, he always left in a place it wouldn’t readily be seen. For he just might explode if he weren’t able to wonder at the masters’ drawing and cyphers.

It was most likely in that book where he got the inkling of an idea to create a clock like no other. The hour hand was much like any other hour hand. It pivoted on the middle of the face and extended out towards the edge, obeying the “golden ratio”. He found that if he mounted the minute hand on the end of the hour hand it behaved like Galileos’ moons, or even, the Earth around the Sun! It was perfect!

And didn’t the sky change throughout the day. Why, the Earth didn’t face the same way to the Heavens every time the church struck the top of the hour. Shouldn’t the hands of the clock do the same?

As Johan lay in the meadow cradling his looking glass in his hands, he would notice the passing of the Astrological Constellations from East to West, just as the Moon and Sun did. He recalled seeing a Jewelers shop Window selling rings and boutonnieres with different gemstones representing each month of the year. Being that there were 12 months, this was a very fortunate find! He would adorn his timepiece with those same 12 gems. But how to make it work?

Johan was no stranger to math. He knew about Geometry and could work a slide rule like the schoolmarm at the edge of town. (Secretly he knew he was better, but he didn’t let on to her, for he was smitten). He figured out the gear ratio and was not surprised to find it was 12:1. He walked around town with an extended breast that day.