Saturday, September 2, 2017

The 2017 Ward Francillon Time Symposium


Craig Duling serves as chairman of the board of Heritage Management Services, but he also enjoys collecting rare timepieces, which he writes about on his website Heritagepocketwatch.com. In addition to sharing his knowledge about watches, Craig Duling is a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC).

For the past 30 years, the NAWCC has hosted the Ward Francillon Time Symposium, an annual educational conference in which its 12,000 members are able to gain further knowledge in the field and meet with fellow horologists. The 2017 conference is being held at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in October with the theme of horology in art. Since the advent of mechanical timekeeping in the 13th century, watches and clocks have been prominently featured in the works of artists such as Jacques-Louis David and Salvador Dali. Many of these pieces will be on display throughout the conference, while numerous art curators and professors will present lectures on the subject.

The conference begins on October 26 with a welcome followed by free-of-charge museum tours. Guest speakers throughout the three-day event include Dennis Carr, Donald Saff, Philippe Bordes, and Louise Cooling, while lectures feature subjects such as "Ancient Egypt: Keeping time in a timeless society," and "The significance of clocks in French portraits from Boucher to David." The program concludes with a reception and dinner on October 28.