Julien Le Roy (; 1686-1759) was a major 18th-century Parisian
clockmaker
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...
and
watchmaker
A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...
.
He was born in
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
in 1686, the scion of four previous generations of clockmakers. By the age of 13, had already made his first clock. In 1699, he moved to Paris for further training. He became ''maître horloger'' in 1713 and later ''juré'' of his guild. Further appointments followed, including the Directorship of the ''Société des Arts'', but the pinnacle of his achievement was being appointed clockmaker (''Horloger Ordinaire du Roi'') to
King Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
in 1739. He carried on his business from premises in the Rue du Harlay until his death in 1759.
His son
Pierre Le Roy
Pierre Le Roy (; 1717–1785) was a French clockmaker. He was the inventor of the detent escapement, the temperature-compensated balance and the isochronous balance spring. His developments are considered as the foundation of the modern precis ...
(1717–1785), a brilliant clock-maker in his own right, carried on the business until the early 1780s. Another son,
Julien-David Le Roy
Julien-David Le Roy or Leroy (; 6 May 1724 in Paris – 28 January 1803 in Paris) was an 18th-century French architect and archaeologist, who engaged in a rivalry with
Britons James Stuart and Nicholas Revett over who would publish the fir ...
(1724–1803), was a
neo-classical architect and archaeologist, author of the ''Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece''. His third son,
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
was a physician and
Encyclopédiste, and his fourth,
Jean-Baptiste Le Roy
Jean-Baptiste Le Roy (; 15 August 1720, in Paris – 20 January 1800, in Paris) was an 18th-century French physicist and one of the major contributors to the ''Encyclopédie'' by Diderot and d’Alembert for technology. The son of 18th-century P ...
, a physicist and Encyclopédiste as well.
Examples of his work can be found in many major museums around the world, including the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
in Paris, and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
in London.
In 1740 the recently founded
Toulouse Observatory
The Toulouse Observatory () is located in Toulouse, France and was established in 1733.
It was founded by ''l'Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de Toulouse'' ("Academy of Science, Inscriptions and the Humanities of Toulouse") ...
acquired a Julien le Roi clock for the observatory.
See also
*
Johan Lindquist
Johan Lindquist of Stockholm was an important 18th-century Swedish clock and watch maker. He was a pupil of Julien Le Roy in Paris in, perhaps, the 1740s, and in the late 1750s was appointed clock-maker to King Adolf Frederick of Sweden
Ad ...
References
External links
Image of Julien Le RoyGetty Museum articleNational Maritime Museum article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Roy, Julien
French clockmakers
People from Tours, France
1686 births
1759 deaths
Le Roy family