Paris, France · 1741 – 1799
Robert Robin
Partially verifiedRoyal clockmaking and precision pendulum clocks
Life & work
Robert Robin was appointed Horloger du Roi (clockmaker to the King) to Louis XVI and continued to hold royal and official appointments through the early Revolutionary period, producing precision pendulum clocks and watches noted for their combination of technical refinement and restrained neoclassical case design, distinct from the more heavily ornamented styles of some contemporaries.
Robin is documented as having worked on improved escapements and compensation for precision regulator clocks, contributing to the broader late eighteenth-century French effort — alongside Berthoud, Le Roy and Janvier — to match or exceed English precision timekeeping, though his individual technical claims are less extensively documented in English-language secondary literature than those of his more internationally famous contemporaries.
Surviving Robin clocks and watches are held in French museum and royal-heritage collections, and his continued royal appointment through the early years of the Revolution (a politically precarious position for a royal tradesman) is itself a notable biographical detail reflecting the turbulence of the period in which he worked.
Timeline
Robert Robin's recorded dates, dated events from this profile and its sources, and dated pieces and sales from the object catalogue. Dates are as each record gives them.
1741 · Career
Born
1770-1775 · Catalogued piece
circa 1780 · Catalogued piece
1799 · Career
Died
Training, contributions & innovations
- Served as royal clockmaker to Louis XVI, continuing into the early Revolutionary period
- Produced precision pendulum regulators and watches of restrained neoclassical design
- Contributed to the broader late eighteenth-century French precision-horology effort
Inventions & patents
- No specific verified patent document for Robin's mechanical refinements is confirmed in the sources consulted; his contribution is documented primarily through surviving signed objects in French collections.
Signatures & markings on surviving work
- Clocks and watches signed 'Robert Robin, Horloger du Roi' or 'Robin à Paris'
Collecting significance
Genuine Robin pieces are museum-grade French Enlightenment-period objects; attribution should be checked against published French royal horology collection catalogues given the political and documentary complexity of the Revolutionary transition period in which he worked.
Firms, key models & movements
Famous objects
- Coach watch · 1780 - 1800
In the object catalogue
3 catalogued objects are recorded under Robert Robin. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.
- A Louis XVI Ormolu Mantel Clock, by Robert RobinMantel clock · circa 1780
- Carriage clock with case and keyCarriage clock · 1780-1785
- Longcase clock (Régulateur) by Robert RobinRegulator · 1770-1775
Provenance
Where the 3 catalogued pieces by Robert Robin were recorded, with the collectors, owners and sales their records name.
Provenance map
Each piece is linked to the museum, auction house or dealer whose record it comes from, and to any other house or collection its own provenance names. Select a name to see its pieces.
Museums · 2 pieces
Auction houses · 1 piece
Victoria and Albert Museum
Museum · 2 pieces · Directory entry
Carriage clock with case and keyCarriage clock · 1780-1785 · Record source
Provenance: John Jones bequest
Longcase clock (Régulateur) by Robert RobinRegulator · 1770-1775 · Record source
The record names no sale, lot or earlier owner.
Collectors, owners and donors
- John Jones bequestProvenance · Carriage clock with case and key
Auction history
| House | Sale & lot | Object |
|---|---|---|
| Christie's | lot 143 | A Louis XVI Ormolu Mantel Clock, by Robert Robin |
Each line is copied from the object's source record and is not independently verified. Holders are as recorded when the piece was catalogued: museum objects may not be on display, and sold lots have since changed hands.
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, collection records
- Augarde, J.-D., Les Ouvriers du Temps (French Enlightenment clockmaking)
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.