Occupation Clockmaker Name Christopher Pinchbeck | Known for Pinchbeck alloy Role Clockmaker | |
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Born c.1670 Clerkenwell, England Died November 18, 1732, London, United Kingdom | ||
Christopher Pinchbeck, also called Catarron (c. 1670 – 18 November 1732(1732-11-18)) was a London clockmaker and maker of musical automata. He was born in Clerkenwell, England, but worked in Fleet Street. He is the most famous member of the Pinchbeck family, from which a small village in Lincolnshire took its name.
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Career
In the 18th century Pinchbeck invented his eponymous alloy, a cheap substitute for gold. He made an exquisite musical clock, worth about £500, for Louis XIV, and a fine organ for the Great Mogul, valued at £300. His eldest son, also named Christopher (1710–1783) became King's Clockmaker by appointment to George III: among his timepieces is an important astronomical clock made for the King, now in Buckingham Palace.
A number of clocks and watches made by both Christopher Pinchbecks still exist. Nowadays the term 'Pinchbeck Watch' may mean a watch made by Christopher senior or junior, a watch made by another maker and housed in a Pinchbeck case, or a watch made by Harold Pinchbeck, the 21st-century family watchmaking business in England.
He died in 1732, at the age of 62.
Idiomatic use
The term "pinchbeck" has entered the English language to signify the alloy Pinchbeck created. Because the alloy could be used to replace gold, the word is also used to signify something less than genuine; a counterfeit; a fake; a sham or fraud.