The reporter who rushed to the front, after reaching the second floor, looked around and saw no trace of anyone.

The antique clock collection area on the left side of the second floor is very much like a museum, and the reporters unconsciously silenced it.

If it weren't for the Gavotte music at this time, it would have been a long time before the people who had gone up to the second floor noticed that behind a large bronze gilt antique clock in the open work area, there was a man who had lost all his breath and was working with his head down.

One by one, the photojournalist turns the camera over to capture the images of the key people.

As far as the camera can see, there is always only a beautiful antique clock, and there is no way to get a clear picture of the faces of the people working behind the clock.

The photojournalist's shot, after a few seconds of stopping, involuntarily freezes.

The attraction of this ingenious antique clock in front of them was so great that the reporters forgot that they had come up to grab the right to ask questions.

Five minutes after the promise, the reporters didn't wait for two minutes before they all came up.

The person working with his head down with a magnifying glass for repairing a clock doesn't seem to mind the photojournalist's lens staring at the clock in front of him.

Not only did he not interrupt, but he also began to explain in a voice that has the same texture as this antique clock, which is much better than the professional explanation of the museum:

[What you see is a bronze gilt Taiping with a water law turning flower music self-striking bell.

It was commissioned by the British watchmaker Peter Tokeler for the Qianlong Dynasty in the 1780s, with a height of 102 cm, a length of 50 cm, and a width of 29.5 cm.

In 1890, it was exported from China and became the collection of King Nassr al-Din Shah Qajar of the Persian Kingdom and the Qajar Dynasty, and was handed over to the royal family, which was later inherited by the Pahlavi dynasty of the Kingdom of Iran.

The chiming clock entered auction for the first time in 1925 and became a private collection in the United Kingdom.

The three most recent auctions, the first two in London, at Bonhams on 28 May 2002, lot 199, and Sotheby's "Jewels: The Prince's Taste" sale lot 21 on 4 July 2012, the most recent being $36,225,000 on 8 December 2015 at Poly Auction House

Sent over to the studio today for repair and maintenance.

If you like the clock, you can push the camera closer to its current position, but please don't go any closer. 】

The intangible cultural heritage inheritors who are working with their heads down are still completing the final restoration process.

I don't know if it's because the value of the bell is too scary, or if everyone realizes that they just came up without listening to the precautions, and all the reporters stopped at almost the same time after the voices that amazed the years said, "Please don't get closer".

The atmosphere was quiet and strange, and the people who came up seemed to have forgotten their original intentions, as if they had just come to the museum to appreciate a top-quality antique clock.

I didn't hear the footsteps of anyone rushing forward again, and the commentary on the bronze gilt Taiping elephant water method turning flower music rang again:

[This clock is divided into five layers, and the mechanical transmission part is powered by five springs.

On the bottom floor are four Qing Dynasty Hercules holding a music box inlaid with eight bronze gilt landscapes.

The upper layer of the box is a bronze gilt mountain stone base, with a white enamel three-hand dial on the front and a white enamel conversion dial on the back.

There are six pieces on the panel, and the one you hear now is the first Gavotte.

The third layer in the middle is the bronze gilt elephant with the most performative function, and it is also the function that needs to be restored today.

The fourth level above the elephant is a hexagonal pavilion.

Inside the pavilion sat the Greek god Atlas, and the sphere he held in his hand was a rotating zodiac theodolite.

At the top of the pavilion is a rotatable double-layered stone flower.

On the top fifth layer, there are copper-gilt rotating pineapple flowers.

This chiming clock, which combines East and West, is exquisitely crafted and conceived, in addition to timekeeping, dotting, playing music and rotating, it also represents the most complex performance function in the history of world watches.

The bronze gilt Taiping Elephant Water Turning Flower Music Striking Clock was designed and made in England and represented the highest watchmaking technology in the world at that time.

In Europe, the local clocks that have achieved such craftsmanship have a very Chinese name - Qianlong Bell.

This bronze gilt bell is performed every three hours, at the hour of 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock.

I'll now set my hand to twelve.

If you zoom in closer, you can see the elephant's lifelike performances.

The eyes are rolling, the ears are flapping back and forth, and the tail is swaying from side to side.

The most important part of the elephant's trunk can not only rotate at a uniform speed, but also rotate while reciprocating left and right.

That's special.

The surviving elephant cultural relics clock, except for the one seen in front of you, can only realize the unidirectional rotation of the elephant's trunk.

This is the only grandfather clock that truly achieves the superposition of movement in both directions.

As you can see, the trunk rotates and rises and falls, while also controlling the reciprocating motion.

This kind of craftsmanship, both in the 1780s and even now, is the most unique and extremely rare.

The Forbidden City in Beijing also has similar elephant cultural relics clocks, the most famous being the bronze gilt elephant pigeon pendulum clock.

However, the performance function of the elephant pipa pendulum clock is far less novel and changeable than the bell in front of him.

Other Taiping elephant table clocks in the Forbidden City collection are not able to achieve this degree of mechanical movement control, and the elephant's trunk can only complete one-way rotation. (Note)

The voice of the narrator was so clear and nice that the people who were close to him were immersed in the teenager's explanation and forgot why they came up.

The people in the back row couldn't see the details of the performance of this clock, and they still remembered the reporter who wanted to ask questions, and they didn't dare to squeeze forward, for fear that an antique clock with tens of millions of dollars would be broken by accident.

A reporter in the back row began to shout, and everyone was going to ask the first question as soon as they came up: "Excuse me, how did you find out that there was a problem with the consignment watch that the heirs of the Mai family brought over, and how did you join the pawnshop to record conclusive evidence?"

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[Note:]

The performance function of an antique clock is not easy to imagine.

"A Quarter of a Quarter of Love" is a bit slow, this story about clocks, about the spirit of craftsmanship, and about dreams, finally put down the half-covered pipa before it was put on the shelves.

Xiaomo will post a series of important props with pictures in the book review area of "A Quarter of Love".

If you are interested in the clocks written in the book, you can go to the book review section to take a look.

The 2008 Vacheron Constantin Masters of Art Mask Collection has been released before, and today we will release a bronze gilt Taiping Elephant Water Turning Flower Music Ringing Bell. 】