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 to ...

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 part ...

. He was born in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metr ...

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 (french: le Bien-Aimé), 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 ...

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 precisio ...

(1717–1785), a brilliant clock-maker in his own right, carried on the business until the early 1780s. Another son,

Julien-David Le Roy French engraver 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 wou ...

(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 and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

was a physician and Encyclopédiste, and his fourth,

Jean-Baptiste Le Roy Jean-Baptiste Le Roy (15 August 1720, Paris – 20 January 1800, 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 Parisian ...

, 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 the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in Paris, and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...

in London. In 1740 the recently founded

Toulouse Observatory The Toulouse Observatory (french: Observatoire de Toulouse) 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 ...

acquired a Julien le Roi clock for the observatory.

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

See also

References

External links