Helen Carr

The intricate stories timepieces tell

The horologist Rebecca Struthers takes us on a journey through time-measurement, from a 44,000-year-old bone carving to the modern Rolex

The gold and crystal pocket watch made for the French queen Marie-Antoinette by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the leading watchmaker of his day. [Getty Images] 
issue 22 April 2023

Humans live rigidly by the ticking hand of the clock, but few notice the passing of time with such precision as a horologist. Horology is the science of measuring time, and Rebecca Struthers is the first watchmaker in British history to earn a doctorate in antiquarian horology.

After the Black Death, a wave of memento mori art swept Europe in the form of macabre cadaver tombs

In her debut book Hands of Time she offers a personal history of time and watchmaking, inviting the reader inside her remarkable world.

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