Henri-Eugène-Adrien Farcot (20 February 1830 in Sainville – 14 March 1896 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés) was a French clock-maker, industrialist, inventor, mechanical-engineer, aeronaut, occasional writer and one of the most celebrated conical pendulum clock makers.
In 1853 he established the Manufacture d’horlogerie E. Farcot with headquarters, from 1855 (previously in rue Vieille-du-Temple, 75, Paris), in rue des Trois-Bornes, 39, Paris, wherein he worked until his retirement in the late 1880s, same as the successors, his son-in-law the Belgian Henri-Charles Wandenberg, or Vandenberg, until December 1903 and Paul Grenon (Wandenberg's nephew) until 1914. Between October 1855-March 1856 the company's name changed to Farcot et Cie, and in 1887 it was renamed Farcot et Wandenberg, although the partnership was officially constituted in April 1890.
Throughout his career path, Eugène Farcot was awarded with one honorable mention and four medals in the following expositions: Besançon 1860 (bronze), London 1862 (honorable mention), Paris (1863 bronze, 1867 bronze & 1878 silver), as well as Henri Wandenberg, both with a silver medal in Paris 1889 and a gold medal in Paris 1900.
In addition to clock-making, he was a member of the Société aérostatique et météorologique de France and the also defunct Chambre syndicale d'horlogerie de Paris. The Musée Farcot, in Sainville, preserves memories of his life, travels and work.
Patents
Of the nineteen patents registered to his name between 1855 and 1886, 16 are linked to horology. They are by chronological order (files for each patent containing description and drawings can be consulted in the archives of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI):
22637, 03/03/1855 – Mouvement de pendule
37159, 23/06/1858 – Perfectionnements apportés à l'horlogerie
41812, 11/08/1859 – Perfectionnements apportés à l'horlogerie
44007, 23/02/1860 – Perfectionnements apportés à l'horlogerie
50962, 24/08/1861 – Réveille-matin avertisseur
53502, 25/03/1862 – Perfectionnements apportés à l'horlogerie
65992, 26/01/1865 – Perfectionnements aux réveille-matin
84057, 20/01/1869 – Timbre d'appel, avertisseur mobile de porte, et sonnerie télégraphique simplifiée 89384, 31/03/1870 – Réveil horizontal à marche rotative et silencieuse
89455, 26/03/1870 – Perfectionnements apportés et appliqués spécialement dans la fabrication des réveille-matin 92460, 14/08/1871 – Pendule de nuit 101995, 29/01/1874 – Perfectionnement et transformation dans la fermeture des porte-monnaie à cadre, pouvant s'appliquer à tous objets de fantaisie, tels que porte-cigares, cigarettes, carnets, bonbonnières, etc. 102593, 14/03/1874 – Perfectionnements apportés aux pendules de nuit lumineuses 107030, 01/03/1875 – Système de pendule-écusson applique, à remontoir auxiliaire et à tirage rentrant 166518, 10/08/1875 – Device for winding clocks (US patent of 107030) 167502, 07/03/1885 – Système de pendule à indications diurnes et nocturnes 176982, 24/06/1886 – Pendule courtoise 177703, 31/07/1886 – Réveil courtois 252398, 12/12/1895 – Application du phonographe aux pièces d'horlogerie (registered to the name of the Société Farcot et Wandenberg)
Monumental conical pendulum clock series
A class of its own among the conical pendulum clocks are the monumental timepieces commercialized between 1862 and 1878. When this model debuted at the London International Exhibition of 1862, it was presented as the first application of the conical pendulum to statuary. In addition to the British capital, it was also displayed in the Paris Exposition des beaux-arts appliqués à l’industrie (1863), as well as in the major world's fairs held in Paris (1867 & 1878) and Philadelphia (1876).
In his own words, Eugène Farcot explained the origins of his idea during the 1867 Paris universal exposition (translated from the French):
Each mystery clock of this one-of-a-kind series was individually made and therefore, no two are alike. They are distinguished for their artistic/horological excellence where foremost, award-winning people from various arts, crafts and sciences, created a masterpiece of Second Empire decorative arts.
Besides a remarkable precision in timekeeping, one of their most distinctive characteristics is the slow continual circular motion at a constant speed (instead of the conventional side to side swinging motion) of the noiseless pendulum, tracing a conical trajectory in space, hence its name.