Ancient mechanism brought to life
Hublot has achieved a tour de force – with great humility, to be sure – by replicating, on the scale of a wristwatch movement, the most amazing machine that has survived from antiquity. The Antikythera mechanism, made in Greece more than 2,000 years ago, upends everything we knew of the Ancient Greeks : they were able to indicate astronomical information on dials through an unsuspected mastery of complex bronze gear trains.
The mechanism was found in 1901 at the bottom of the sea, near the small island of Antikythera north of Crete, in the wreck of a Roman ship that sank in the 1st century BC. Carrying invaluable masterpieces of Greek art, the ship probably departed from Rhodes or Asia Minor for Rome. The unusual instrument was part of the sunken treasure. The researchers who examined the device initially believed that it was some kind of astrolabe, based on the 82 corroded fragments covered with figures and inscriptions. This strange discovery remained a mystery for years, before its secrets were finally revealed by 21st century X-ray imaging technology.
The tomographic analyses provided images of the inner workings of the machine, layer by layer. Fortunately, thanks to high-resolution pictures taken under varying lighting patterns, portions of a user’s manual, engraved on the walls of the machine, were discovered and analysed by epigraphists and science historians, providing information critical to the reconstitution of the mechanism. The metal alloys, the Greek script of a particular period and other correlations, give us conclusive evidence that it actually dates from the 2nd century BC.
The machine reflects the astronomical knowledge of the time, mechanically reproducing several cycles up to 940 lunar months. On one side of the casing (33 x 18 cm), the 365 days of the Egyptian solar calendar were displayed on a large dial, within which a second circle listed the 12 signs of the zodiac. A handwheel drove the gears controlling the hands, which showed the exact position of the sun and the moon on each day, with a small sphere to indicate the phases of the moon.
On the back face, the handwheel could advance a pointer to predict the next eclipse, using a combination of several cycles. And the day was shown on the other side, because all the operations were synchronised. The device also displayed the cities where upcoming games were to be held, based on the four-year cycle of the Olympiads. We have no evidence, to date, of similar antique machines that used comparable technology in other fields. What was it really for ? Could it have been a prototype or a demonstration model made by a disciple of Archimedes?
The Greeks did not have the same perception of time as we do, and the Antikythera mechanism did not tell the time. It was the fruit of the knowledge and compilations of observations inherited from Babylon and Egypt, as well as the mathematics of Magna Graecia, which made it possible to calculate accurately the irregularities of the moon’s orbit around the Earth. This is one of the finer aspects of the machine. “The Antikythera mechanism reveals solutions that are unknown in watchmaking today,” says Mathias Buttet, director of research and development at Hublot. “By replicating it in miniature form in a watch movement, we wanted to pay tribute to the engineers of antiquity.” For this meeting between contemporary watchmaking and ancient culture, the watchmakers added a time indication and a tourbillon. Only three pieces will be produced, and they will not be sold, but will be on permanent exhibit in museums in Athens, Paris and at Hublot.
The Antikythera Mechanism is the subject of a 3D film directed by Philippe Nicolet and NVP3D. Presented at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Paris, the film will be shown as part of an exhibition dedicated to this amazing machine, which also features the movement made by Hublot.
