THE MONTECAROTTESE WATCHMAKING SCHOOL
“The Montecarottese Watchmaking School: artisan excellence between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries”
The enhancement process of the Watchmaking School of Montecarotto began several years ago, thanks to the commitment of the Montecarotto administrators and historical research enthusiasts.
It all began in January 2007, when a letter from the watchmaker Vincenzo Minnucci di Fondi arrived at the Municipality of Montecarotto, with an enthusiastic historical and technical description of the public clock in Penna San Giovanni, his native town, with which he had dealt being the grandson of the two watchmakers who took care of the watch itself. In 2014, the restoration of the Civic Tower (clock tower) made it possible to make the public clock mechanism visible to the public. The clock mechanism created by Pietro Mei has been in operation for 165 years, almost entirely original and functioning with daily manual winding.
Thanks to suggestions and enthusiasm, a group of historical research enthusiasts has gradually been created over the years, also coming into contact with experts, technicians, restorers and historians of watchmaking and timekeeping, nationally and internationally.
This volume represents the sum of the efforts made in just over a decade by the group of historical research enthusiasts and by the Municipal Administrations of Montecarotto, culminating in the Conference held online on November 28th, 2020, due to the health situation linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The volume deals with the topics of time measurement, the measurement of hours, mechanical clocks in Italy throughout the centuries, up to the Marche and the Montecarottese Watchmaking School, made up of masters Mei, Galli and Marconi.
Synthetic index of contributions and their respective authors:
Mario Arnaldi: Measurement of time and origin of mechanical watches
Paolo Basilici: The Measure of Time between History and Curiosity
Pino Solari: Manufacturers of Tower Clocks in Val Pesarina: Industry and Society
Marisa Addomine: Ancient Clocks and Watchmakers in the Marche region
Pietro Sebastianelli: The Montecarottese Watchmaking School: Pietro Mei
Paolo Febo: The Montecarottese Watchmaking School: Antonio Galli and Edoardo Marconi and their works
Sauro Corinaldi: Montecarottesi Watches Technique
Chris McKay: Similarities between Pietro Mei’s Watches and the Contemporary English Production
Giulio Gagliardini: Interview and memories of his grandfather Edoardo Marconi
The book is available at the Municipality of Montecarotto
To contact the organizing committee and the authors contact
orologiai.montecarotto@gmail.com