The art object was created by the internationally known Englishman Martin Riches in 2018 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Saarland Watch Museum. The sound art artist exhibited his clockwork – actually his hobby – here for the first time. His clocks have delicate, large, handcrafted, graceful wooden gears and long, contemplatively slowly swinging pendulums.
Can you calm your breathing rate by looking closely at the following video?
The clock only has two (!) wheels, but hour and minute hands. This is impossible with normal wheel train designs, since at least one change wheel is needed to translate the rotation of the minute axis into that of the hour axis. The watch has two stainless steel weights that run on rollers. The escapement is similar to the Grashopper escapement invented by George Harrison in the 18th century. This was the escapement system of the marine chronometer he invented, a crucial invention for navigation on the high seas. She had contributed significantly to the supremacy of Great Britain on the seven seas.
Watch the next vide to see why the escapement got the name "Grasshopper Escapement".
