Dent

Dent was founded in 1814 by Edward John Dent, who developed a reputation as a builder of accurate chronometers. One of his chronometers won the First Premium Award in the 1829 Greenwich Trials. The Royal Navy equipped themselves with Dent's chronometers. Dent chronometers accompanied influential explorers including Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle in 1831, David Livingstone in Africa, and Henry Morton Stanley. The firm constructed standard clocks supplied to observatories and government bodies worldwide. In 1852, Dent won the commission to construct the Great Clock at the Palace of Westminster (Big Ben). The company supplied Standard Clocks to the Royal Observatory Greenwich and held Royal Warrants from Queen Victoria and Emperor Meiji of Japan. After dormancy in the late 20th century, the brand was revived in London under E. J. Dent & Co. Ltd.