Reflecting a longstanding passion for antique timepieces and stained glass, Chicago entrepreneur Cameel Halim and his family recently launched the Halim Time & Glass Museum. Among the noteworthy works within Cameel Halim’s collection of more than 1,100 timepieces are pocket watches, automatons, and chronometers. The chronometer represents an important stage in clockmaking technology and has its roots in the early 18th century. A British fleet of warships returning home from a failed port siege during the War of Spanish Succession missed sighting the Gibraltar straits just as a major storm hit. Even with known landmarks not visible, latitude could still be readily ascertained based on star and sun positions at specific times of the day. But longitude was almost impossible to calculate, and a system of dead reckoning, using the ship's direction and speed and requiring careful timing, was the only way of determining a vessel’s position. Unfortunately, the timepieces of the day could not accurately keep time, and the flagship HMS Association ran into the Scilly Isles’ Outer Gilston Rock. 1,500 sailors perished on the four ships that sank, and only 13 survived. This naval disaster led to an act of Parliament creating a contest with a major prize to anyone who could create a system of accurately determining longitude within a half degree throughout a transatlantic voyage. With none other than Sir Isaac Newton declaring that the task was impossible, it was ultimately John Harrison who, after four decades of research and refinement, created the pioneering H4 “marine chronometer.”
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AuthorA successful real Chicago estate investor, Cameel Halim supports his community through a variety of charitable efforts. Archives
February 2018
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