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"Moonlight" clock:

Movements of the Sun and the Moon over the horizon

Mechanical clock showing the apparent movements of the Sun and the Moon

Presentation :

This clock is produced by Christian Bernardet, a clockmaker from ''Franche-Comté'' (France) willing to perpetuate the inventive spirit of his predecessors.

It permits to read the time on a 24h face, while observing the working and the appearance of the moon during the day, according to the date of the month (that is to say according to the lunar cycle).

The observations are made on a face where the sun moves, and on a hand wearing a sphere representing the phases of the moon. The whole is inserted in an elegant hand-painted facade. The mechanical inner pieces can be seen on the sides of the clock, to admire the ingenuity of the device.

These pieces are all made of metal, like in the past (steel, stainless, bronze, brass). They are hand machined, warranted for 10 years and conceived to last for several centuries…

Technical characteristics:

It's a mechanical mechanism, regulated by a pendulum, the driving force of which is obtained with weights made of cast iron (3 to 4 kg). It's put on a metallic stand which insures the stability on the floor ; the winding is operated by little chains : the autonomy is about one week.

The precision is ensured with a nut in the lowest part of the pendulum. The size of the clock is nearly the same as the one of a ''Comtoise clock'' (unit of the teeth : from 0.75 to 1 mm).

The escapement is an anchor.

The whole clock is handmade by the clockmaker.

The box (225mm high – 200mm wide – 160mm depth) wears on it's front facade a fixed disc (starry-blue). It's diameter is 340mm. A moving disc (diameter 280mm) stays in front of the fixed one. It's painted half starry blue night, half sky-blue. This disc pivots around a central axle every 12 hours, at 6 AM and at 6 PM (day-night alternation).

In front of this moving disc, a fixed hiding steel hides the lowest half. It symbolizes the horizon. The left part will be the east, the right one the west, and the middle is the south.

The hours are hand-painted on the circular side of the half circle which symbolizes the horizon, from 6 PM in the west to 6 AM in the east, passing by 0 hours in the lowest part, on the vertical straight line coming from the central axle.

On the external side of the half-circle of the moving disc (sky-blue) are painted the hours from 6 AM to 6 PM, passing by 12 hours in it's middle (the south-moon).

Guide :

see the user's guide  of the clock