British Horological Institute

The British Horological Institute (also known as the BHI) is the representative body of the horological industry in the United Kingdom.

History

The BHI was founded in 1858 by a small group of clockmakers. [http://www.bhi.co.uk BHI official website] ] Their aim was to unify the British horological industry and trades in the face of large numbers of imports of clocks and watches from abroad. The Institute was an immediate success and within a year it had founded its own museum and library; it also began to offer evening classes in clock- and watch-making.

The BHI today

The current premises of the BHI are at Upton Hall in Nottinghamshire, England. Its primary role is that of education, providing a standardised set of examinations for training horologists. It also maintains [http://www.bhi.co.uk/repairer.htm a list of members] whom it considers sufficiently qualified to repair clocks and watches, and who adhere to a strict [http://www.bhi.co.uk/code.htm code of practice] .

Membership

The Institution offers a number of different kinds of membership. These include:;Ordinary Membership : Any individual with an interest in horology may subscribe as a member;Graduate Membership : Graduate membership is limited to those who have taken the BHI horology course and passed the appropriate examinations. Such persons may append the letters "Grad BHI" to their name.;Full Membership : Full membership is open to graduate members with a sufficient degree of professional experience as a clockmaker. Full members may append the letters "MBHI" to their name.;Fellowship : In order to become a fellow of the BHI, one must make a contribution to the field of horology deemed to be of exceptional value. (Note this has not always been the case; it was significantly easier to gain fellowship in later half of the twentieth century). Fellows of the BHI may append the letters "FBHI" to their name.

A full explanation of the different grades of membership is available on the [http://www.bhi.co.uk/grades.htm BHI's own website] .

The BHI Library

The [http://www.bhi.co.uk/tour/library.htm Library of the BHI] is one of very few existing specialised libraries dealing primarily with horology. It is open to researchers by appointment, and its holding includes a number of rare documents, papers, letters and books, particularly dealing with the high points of British horology in the 18th and early 19th century, but its catalogue contains comparatively few titles published in the last several decades.must be published to the people than to any body not connected to the said history.

ee also

* Upton Hall - the headquarters of the BHI.
* BHI horology course

External links

* [http://www.bhi.co.uk Home page of the BHI]
* [http://www.bhi.co.uk/tour/start.htm Virtual tour of Upton Hall, the current headquarters of the BHI]
* [http://www.bhi.co.uk/repairer.htm The BHI's list of recommended repairers]
* [http://www.bhi.co.uk/tour/library.htm BHI Library]

References