Popping into a hardware store won’t do when Brittany Nicole Cox needs parts or tools. She’s an antiquarian horologist, trained to conserve and restore historic clocks and the clockwork showpieces called automatons (1 and 8, below). “I work on objects created before mass production, before the standardization of things like screw threading,” Cox explains. So when she needs to replace a part in a delicate mechanism that may have sat frozen for a century, she builds it in her Seattle workshop, often using tools that also are antiques. “There’s such craft and art in them,” she says.

To conserve and restore historic clocks and the clockwork showpieces called automatons—an example is top left in this photo—antiquarian horologist Brittany Nicole Cox relies on some specialized tools that themselves are antiques.
This story appears in the February 2021 issue of National Geographic magazine.
<b>1. Automaton</b>
1. Automaton
More from this series
Go Further
Animals
- The Dallas Zoo is being sabotaged. Here’s what we know.The Dallas Zoo is being sabotaged. Here’s what we know.
- Hogs are running wild in the U.S.—and spreading diseaseHogs are running wild in the U.S.—and spreading disease
- World’s biggest, rarest ocean stingray tagged in the wildWorld’s biggest, rarest ocean stingray tagged in the wild
- Animal-friendly laws are gaining traction across the U.S.Animal-friendly laws are gaining traction across the U.S.
Environment
- The everyday people making their homes eco-friendly
- Paid Content
The everyday people making their homes eco-friendly - Here’s a better way to dispose of used cooking oilHere’s a better way to dispose of used cooking oil
- Explore how traditional mud homes keep you cool
- Magazine
- Feature
Explore how traditional mud homes keep you cool - Wildlife on the move: from trafficking to rescue and rewilding, Video Story
- Paid Content
Wildlife on the move: from trafficking to rescue and rewilding
History & Culture
- This Black artist’s quilts inspired generations of U.S. artisansThis Black artist’s quilts inspired generations of U.S. artisans
- These 3,000-year-old relics were torched and buried—but why?These 3,000-year-old relics were torched and buried—but why?
Science
- How to see the green comet flying past Earth tonightHow to see the green comet flying past Earth tonight
- How old are you, really? The answer is written on your face.How old are you, really? The answer is written on your face.
- How breast milk banks could avert the next formula crisisHow breast milk banks could avert the next formula crisis
Travel
- Sanibel Island was a paradise. Then Hurricane Ian struck.Sanibel Island was a paradise. Then Hurricane Ian struck.
- Salman Rushdie on the timeless beauty of the Taj MahalSalman Rushdie on the timeless beauty of the Taj Mahal
- The instruments that shape the soundtrack of Abu Dhabi, Video Story
- Paid Content
The instruments that shape the soundtrack of Abu Dhabi - These breathtaking natural wonders no longer existThese breathtaking natural wonders no longer exist
- Can tourism help protect the iconic Mont-Saint-Michel?Can tourism help protect the iconic Mont-Saint-Michel?