SEC. 87 ISSUE NR 3 YEAR 2020 Every Monday Ruth would head to the Observatory and have a cup of tea with the porter while she waited for Arnold’s certificate of accuracy. She would spend the rest of the day traveling to clock shops, ship chartering businesses and private individuals throughout London, bringing her customers the correct time and they in turn would adjust clocks and watches accordingly. In an effort to discredit Ruth, the director of the Standard Time Company, Belville’s main competitor, gave a speech in which he implied that Ruth used her femininity to gain clients. His plan backfired as she found herself besieged by reporters in what we would today describe as ‘free advertising’ resulting in a major increase of sales. Never failing her customers, Ruth traveled the streets with Arnold for forty-eight years. And though she was in her 80’s, it wasn’t until the outbreak of World War II that she was forced into retirement retirement as it became nearly impossible to travel the streets safely. In 1940, an impressive 104-year family legacy came to a close. Prior to Ruth’s passing in 1943, she made provisions for Arnold. In gratitude for her tireless service, the Clockmakers Company provided Ruth with a pension. As a thank you, following her death (Arnold was on her bed-side table at the time of her passing), the trusty chronograph was donated to the Clockmakers Museum. So, the next time you’re in London, be sure to swing by and pay Arnold a deserved visit. ** A note on GMT: Though it has since been replaced by Coordinated Universal Time, GMT remains the legal time in Britain in winter and is used by the Royal Navy, BBC World Service and the Met Office. (Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time or, the calculation of time based on the Sun’s position in the sky from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.)
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