Marie Antoinette 'smart watch' on display in London

Marie Antoinette 'smart watch' on display in London

A pocket watch designed for Queen Marie Antoinette, with an incredible number of features, even by today's standards, is among the artifacts on display in an exhibition celebrating the science of the royal court at Versaille.

The watch, one of the most beautiful, complex and most expensive ever made, was commissioned in 1783 but was not completed until decades after the Queen's execution.

It's features, known at the time as complications, include on-demand sounding of the hour, quarter hour and minute; a perpetual calendar corrected for the leap year; a thermometer, and an independent second hand that acts as a stopwatch.

The exhibition, Versailles: Science and Splendour, examines how scientific knowledge, including horology, became widespread, fashionable, and a tool of power to enhance France’s prestige during the 17th and 18th centuries.

REUTERS VIDEO

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