Fusee Sink—The sink cut in the top plate of a watch to give space for the fusee.
Galileo, Galilei—Commonly called "Galileo." A famous Italian scientist born in 1564 who discovered, among many other things, the isochronism of the pendulum vibrating through long or short arcs. The story goes that he noticed that a swinging chandelier in a certain cathedral took the same length of time to each vibration whether in long or short arcs—timing them by his pulse. He seems never to have applied this principle to clocks, although he issued an essay on the subject in 1639.
Galileo, Vincentis—Son of the great astronomer, born about 1600. He aided his father in experiments and gave special attention to the application of the pendulum to clocks. He is claimed by some to have been the first to so apply the pendulum, in 1649, but this is disputed in favor of Richard Harris of London.
Geneva—A city in Switzerland in which watchmaking was first established in that country. It is the center of the "hand" industry, and the city is honeycombed with garret-workers—so-called—making parts.
Gerbert (Pope Sylvester II)—Born in Belliac, Auvergne, in 920. In 990 Gerbert made some sort of a clock which attained wide fame. Some authorities claim that it was a clock moved by weights and wheels and some even claim for it a verge escapement. On the other hand, other authorities state positively that that story is a myth and that Gerbert's horologe was a sun-dial. It seems pretty well accepted that there was no escapement used, however, until more than two centuries after Gerbert's time.
German Silver—An alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc—copper predominating. Really a white brass.
Gimbal—A contrivance resembling a universal joint permitting a suspended object to tip freely in all directions. Marine chronometers are supported in their cases or boxes by gimbals. It was first applied to chronometers by Huyghens.
Gnomon—A simple and probably the most ancient instrument for marking time consisting simply of a staff or pillow fixed perpendicularly in a sunny place—time being reckoned by the changing length of the shadow or by its angular movement. In more recent times the title "gnomon" was applied to the style of the sun-dial.