In his celebrated novel The Clock Adjustment Institute, the 20th-century Turkish writer Ahmet Hamdi Tanpýnar writes, 'The watch which is the most intimate friend of its owner, companion to the beat of his pulse at his wrist, a friend at his breast sharing all his joys and sorrows, heated by the warmth of his body and espoused by his organism, and the clock which stands on his table and experiences with him all the happenings of the time span which we call a day, both inevitably come to resemble their owner, and become accustomed to think and live like him.'
Clocks might have far more sophisticated mechanisms today, but in beauty and magnificence those of the past are unsurpassed. The collection of 376 clocks and watches dating from the 16th to early 20th century at Topkapi Palace demonstrates this beyond all doubt. Most of these timepieces are diplomatic gifts from Western countries, some of which were used in the palace harem and pavilions, while the most valuable were kept in the Treasury.

In 1477 Sultan Mehmed II requested the Duke of Venice to send mechanical clock makers to the Ottoman capital. The first Ottoman mechanical clock maker was the astronomer Takiyüddin, who was at the same time chief astrologer to Sultan Murad III (1574-1595) and who founded an observatory in Istanbul. Takiyüddin was the first Eastern author of a book on mechanical clocks and built a clock which told prayer times. Unfortunately not a single 16th century Turkish clock has survived to the present day.
In the 17th century European clock makers in search of new markets set up workshops in Galata in Istanbul. Here foreign and Ottoman clock makers worked together. The palace craftsmen also included clock makers. The earliest surviving Turkish clocks date from the 17th century and are exquisite examples of handcraftsmanship. Altogether just fifty antique Turkish clocks dating between the 17th and early 20th centuries are in the collection today, although we know the names of numerous Turkish clock makers from archive documents.

could be seen, and were protected from dust by a glass bell. Many of these were made by Mevlevi clock makers, and are distinguished by having the form of the tall Mevlevi dervish headdress. The collection includes Mevlevi clocks by Ahmed Gülþeni ül Mevlevi, Sultan Mahmud II's horologist Ahmed Eflaki Dede and his pupil Mehmed Þükrü, and Hüseyin Hakî. There are also clocks by Sultan Abdülaziz's clock maker Süleyman Leziz. The earliest European clocks in the Topkapý collection date from the 16th and 17th centuries, but are few in number compared to the 18th and 19th centuries. A 16th century German Renaissance clock is the oldest bracket clock in the collection. An early pendant watch -worn around the neck- with its original leather case was made in Nuremberg in 1580. The most splendid of the 19th century German clocks and watches is a pocket watch given to Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1909) by the German emperor Wilhelm II. The earliest French timepiece is a pendant watch dated 1675 by the Paris maker De Baufre. An Austrian bracket clock with a gold case set with precious stones is one of the

and wound automatically.
In the 19th century Swiss watches replaced those of English manufacture on the Ottoman market. Courvoisier Frères or Chaux de Fonds and Courvoisier et Cie produced pocket watches for the Ottoman palace. Those with portraits of sultans Abdülaziz and Abdülmecid on the lids reflect the fashionable style of the time. The watches used in a model of Izmir Clock Tower made in 1901 and presented to Sultan Abdülhamid II by Izmir Municipality are of Swiss manufacture. One of the most valuable items in the collection is a table clock with a griffon figure sent as a gift to Abdülhamid II by the Russian czar Nicholas II, on the 25th anniversary of the sultn'sr reign. The mechanism is Swiss and the case was made by Fabergé, the famous jeweller at the Russian court.

* Feza Çakmut is a curator at Topkapi Palace.