Before there were wristwatches or desk clocks, the ancients used the natural method of tracking celestial objects with homemade sundials to tell the time.

The simplest is to take a stick into the ground, see where its shadow (when the Sun “passes”, in fact the Earth rotates) to estimate the time to get there.

More complicated, a gnomon (needle) is used, which casts a shadow on a graduated stone disc, letting everyone know each moment.

Queen Mary Sundial at Holyrood Palace, Scotland.

From 1500 BC, in Egypt, there was the first sundial, a flat limestone rock, carved in the shape of a half-sphere, divided into 12 parts, 15 degrees apart and at the ground corner attached an L-shaped bar to make it it casts shadows every hour.

In addition to that real clock, in the Bible 2,700 years ago there was also a record of Ahaz’s clock indicating sacred moments.

In the first century, people improved the sundial by placing the gnomon parallel to the Earth’s axis so that when the Sun moved from East to West, a clear, precise shadow would appear.

To date, they have made many special watches, not only having one hand but also containing many hands, showing local time, regional time and also universal time. Thanks to the construction of monuments that both serve as decorative works and conveniently measure time, sundials, especially multi-faceted, multi-hand watches have become ubiquitous.

The largest sundial to date is the work in the city of Jaipur (India) has been built of stone since 1724, 4 hectares wide with a needle over 30 meters high.

Barrington Court Clock, Somerset, England.

England, especially Scotland, is home to the largest number of sundials, and most of them are multi-faceted. Mainly built in the 17th-18th centuries, they became the inspiration for inventors to make wristwatches and wristwatches. There are two types of sundial here, including the obelisk tower and the pulpit in the lectern cathedral.

At this time, people loved science and math so everyone built a clock. In Scotland, sundials are everywhere, including very tall tower clocks and create a unique beauty.

Lennoxlove Watch, Scotland.

Sundial at Dumfries House, Scotland.

Each is the embodiment of knowledge, success and fortune when attached to the rich life of the nobility. In order to show erudition and wealth, people often do not make single-sided watches, but multi-faceted, multi-hand watches. In particular, the clock in Scotland’s Glamis castle has 84 hands.

For many Scots, the sundial also signifies integrity and clarity. They often say: “Live like a sundial, only counting the time of the sun every day”.

Sundial at Groirie, Yvre-l’Eveque, France.

Sundial at Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey, France.

In addition, France and Germany are also two countries with many beautiful sundials, even preserving many ancient sundials from the 15th and 16th centuries. These are polyhedral blocks of gnomon to catch the sun in many places. angle and time, and then reflect on each other, creating many magical shapes.