The NAWCC Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Mr. Rory McEvoy has been named Executive Director of the NAWCC. Rory is an internationally renowned horological scholar and comes to the NAWCC with strong credentials that solidly align with our education, fundraising, and membership growth objectives. He has a postgraduate degree in the conservation and restoration of antique clocks from West Dean College, and throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to handle some of the world’s most important horological artifacts, including longitude timekeepers by Harrison, Kendall, and Mudge.
Rory formerly worked as Curator of Horology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, where his role included day-to-day management of research and digitization projects, writing, public speaking, conservation, convening conferences, exhibition work, and development of acquisition/disposal and collection care policies. In addition, he has worked as a horological specialist at Bonhams in London, where he cataloged and handled many rare timepieces and built important relationships with collectors, buyers, and sellers. Most recently, Rory has used his talents to share his love of horology at the university level by teaching horological theory, history, and the practical repair and making of clocks and watches at Birmingham City University.
Rory is a British citizen and currently resides in the UK. Pre-COVID-19, Rory and his wife, Kaai, visited HQ in Columbia, Pennsylvania, where they met with staff, spent time in the Museum and Library & Research Center, and toured the area. Rory and Kaai will be relocating to the area as soon as the immigration challenges and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 permit.
Some of you may already be familiar with Rory as he is also a well-known author and lecturer. His recent publications include the book Harrison Decoded: Towards a Perfect Pendulum Clock, which he edited with Jonathan Betts, and the article “George Graham and the Orrery” in the journal Nuncius.
Until Rory’s relocation to the United States is complete, he will be working closely with an on-boarding team assembled by the NAWCC Board of Directors to introduce him to the opportunities and challenges before us and to ensure a smooth transition. Rory will be participating in strategic and financial planning immediately, which will allow him to hit the ground running when he arrives in Columbia
You can read more about Rory McEvoy and this exciting announcement in the upcoming March/April issue of the Watch & Clock Bulletin.
Please join the entire Board and staff in welcoming Rory to the NAWCC community.Thanks! I feel like I learn something historically new to me every time I research a different watch.Very cool! Super condition too.-Cort
Truly said. "What a proper Mason would make of it..." would be interesting as the way this one is depicted with the leaves is slightly different and I cannot find another like this on google or ebay. Apparently an Ingersoll interpretation.If you search an online auction site such as ebay for "pocket watch masonic" then you will see a ton of watches, new and old, with random symbols scattered around the dial. The "gold thing with right-angle thing" device is one of the commonest.
So yes, this watch could happily be described as "masonic", although what a proper Mason would make of it, would be an interesting one to explore.
Or an interpretation provided by the company/group for whom the watch(es) were made?Apparently an Ingersoll interpretation.
Hi Pat! Yes, very true. Thinking 1910-ish by serial number?Or an interpretation provided by the company/group for whom the watch(es) were made?
Symbolizing immortality. Good find.The leaves are possibly meant to represent the sprig of acacia.
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Acacia
From Albert G. Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, this installment of Symbols & Symbolism presents his exploration of the mystical properties of the Acacia. Note, some links have been …www.google.com
Well that is good 'timing'...hehehehThere will be an article in the Bulletin regarding Masonic links to clocks and clockmaking in America coming up in May or June I think. It revolves around the display on these clocks at the ESR in 2019 and the extensive video done by George Goolsby about the display.
The serial number dating sometimes varies, depending on which source you're using, but it's unlikely to be prior to the last patent date on the movement. (sorry I can't make out the patent dates in the image)Thinking 1910-ish by serial number?
Looks like there are three '07' and one '01 patent datesThis appears to be plate 39 in Townsend's book, The Watch that made the Dollar Famous. The illustration shows a watch with patent dates, the latest of which appears to be Nov. 12, 1912. The serial number shown in the illustration is 37438100, which by Townsend's table puts the watch movement ca. 1913-14. Bjornestad's SN would, by Townsend's table, fall in 1910 or so. Of course, the patent dates on his watch would have to support that, as Pat implied above.
In which case, a 1910 manufacture date is not out of the question, particularly if there is no 1912 patent date.
DMT, formally known as N,N-dimethyltryptamine, is quite interesting to test, given it is a drug that occurs naturally in many plants and animals (also human beings) and has historically been prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes.Translation please? DMT?
Very interesting. Other options.DMT, formally known as N,N-dimethyltryptamine, is quite interesting to test, given it is a drug that occurs naturally in many plants and animals (also human beings) and has historically been prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes.
Acacia is a genus containing hundreds of species of plants that have a wide variety of traditional and medicinal uses. Either trees or shrubs, Acacia species are most commonly found in Australia, and some in Africa.
Some Acacia plants contain psychoactive alkaloids, including DMT.
The information on acacia and DMT may be correct, but I wonder about the relevance to this thread.Very interesting. Other options.