Afgelopen 23 juni kreeg ik de navolgende interessante mail van Cristine Redding, dochter van wijlen Dr Kenneth Franklin. (1923-2007)
Kenneth L. Franklin in 1957, early in his time at the planetarium.
[i] I was googling this topic today, and found your query, dated 2005.
My father, Dr Kenneth Franklin, worked out the time system for the lunar watch around 30 years ago. As far as I know, this was the first time system actually invented to be useful to someone living on the moon. It may come in handy yet.
Helbros made a few watches based on his system. They were offered for sale in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog for a very fat price tag.
They gave two of them to him, and one was donated to the Hayden Planetarium in NYC where Dad worked most of his career.
(Dad passed away last week, which is why I have been exploring sites and links related to his life and contributions.)
Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions I might be able to help out with.
CLRedding[/i]
[b]Ik kende de naam Kenneth Franklin niet, en heb op het internet e.e.a. nagezocht. Dr Kenneth Franklin bleek een heel respecteerde astronoom te zijn. Om slechts enkele feiten te noemen:
Er is een Asteroïde naar hem vernoemd (Asteroid Number 2845 is named FRANKLINKEN in his honor)
Hij was tientallen jaren lang columnist van de New York Times, en was zeer lange tijd de top astronoom van het beroemde Hayden Planetarium te New York.
En ik kwam de volgende passage tegen in een van de in-memoriam´s op het internet.[/b]
In 1970, he invented a watch for moon walkers that measures time in what he called “lunations,” the period it takes the moon to rotate and revolve around the earth; each lunation is exactly 29.530589 earth days. The watch has not yet become a big seller
[b]Ik kende het bestaan van zulk een horologe niet, maar mijn interesse was gewekt. Dit zou een ECHTE Moonwatch zijn, ontworpen voor gebruik voor een langer (permanent??) verblijf op de maan. En ik wilde meer weten omtrent dit interessante horloge.
Ik antwoorde op de mail als volgt:[/b]
[i]Dear Mrs. Redding,
Thank you very much for contacting me.
First of all my sincere condolences for the lost of your father, to you and your family.
I didn’t know your father, but the quick research I did after receiving your mail, left a deep respect for him and the work he did.
Aren’t we all fascinated by the phenomena that occur in the universe, and to dedicate one’s whole life to this is deep within everyone’s dream. Therefore it is so great that your father made the decision to do so.
I do not exactly know what query from 2005 you are referring to, but I did a few contributions on various watch fora concerning watches with Astronomical complications. This interest started when I met Christiaan van der Klaauw, a dutch watch designer, specializing in Astronomical complications. I own a few of his most complicated watches, a Planetarium and an Eclips watch. Here is his webpage http://www.klaauwwatches.nl/ENG/index_eng.htm
Now I read that your father has designed a Lunar Watch. !!!
And that Helbros made a few watches based on the invention by your father. I must say that I´m really curious to find out more about this watch and the concept your father invented.
People associate The Moon Watchwith the Omega Speedmaster, but your father’s watch is the REAL moon watch…
I would be very, very interested in pictures of the watch, and details about the system or concept about the watch.
Any information you have would be appreciated very much.
With deepest respect,
Hans Mennink
Netherlands[/i]
Er ontstond een warme mail wisseling waarbij ik ook het Hayden Planetarium verzocht om nadere informatie.
Helaas konden zij me niet echt verder helpen getuige het volgende antwoord:
[i]Dear Hans:
I have consulted with our retired archivist and she did not seem to know too much about the watch in question. She did recall a “moon watch” that was on display many years ago in the old Hayden (the old building was torn down in 1997 and a new facility was built and opened in 2000).
Unfortunately, she informed me that the watch was stolen. But, I do not know if this is the watch you are seeking.
Access to the Hayden archive is granted through the American Museum of Natural History’s Library, who maintains the archive. If you wish to gain access to the archive, please visit the Library’s Special Collections page to find information on access.
I realize this may be difficult from the Netherlands, but there is no way for anyone here to know if any information exists in the archive and since we have no archivist now (budget cutbacks), it is impossible for anyone here to search for you.
I hope you are able to find out more. You can always contact the library to see if they can help you.
-Brian
Brian Abbott
Hayden Planetarium
American Museum of Natural History
http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/[/i]
[b]Al met al zijn we nog niet veel opgeschoten naar de zoektocht (afbeelding en nadere informatie) van de Helbros Moonwatch.
Tijd om de diverse fora in te schakelen, en waar kun je beter starten dan op ons aller horlogeforum.nl?
Daarom heb ik aan jullie de volgende vragen (Het lijkt opsporing verzocht wel)
• Wie heeft er wel eens van de Helbros Moonwatch gehoord, en wie heeft er een afbeelding en/of nadere informatie over?
• Wie heeft er een oude kerst catalogus (1970 of iets later) van de Amerikaanse keten Neiman Markus?
• Alle andere informatie die van belang kan zijn in de zoektocht naar dit horloge is zeer welkom.
Ik ben zeer benieuwd.[/b]
