Earlier chronometers.

Of course the first chronometers
were: the sun, moon and stars.
After these, people began to
use things they made
themselves, to know what time
it was.
Such things are described below:

Shadow clocks.

4000 years ago the Egyptians
designed the shadow clock,
the first well known clock.
The shadow clock was T-formed,
the time was read by watching
how far the shadow reached
on the scale.
Probably the Egyptian pharao
(Tuthmosis 3) took a shadow clock
along when he went into battle.

Sun-dials.

About 800 before Chr. Sun-dials
were invented.
When the sun shines on a vertical
or oblique pile you can see
the shadow on a plane.
The plane is divided into equal hours
determined by the seasons.
The gnomon is placed in the
center of the dial.
As the sunlight is cast on the gnomon,
it creates a shadow which is reflected
on the plane with the hours marked.
on it.

Sun-dials were popular in
Greece and Rome. As well they were
also used in Europe until the
18th century.
There were also little,
portable sun-dials for travellers.

Water clocks.

At night and when it was cloudy
the shadow and sun-dials didn't work.
So people used water clocks.
At the water clock you can see
the time by just looking at the
changing waterlevel.
In the ancient Greece they used the
water clock to measure a speech-time of
a lawyer at the courthouse.
Water clocks were also used as the
first alarm clocks.

Incense clocks.

They used it in the 6th until
the 7th century in China.
Incense is burning regular and
there was scent for every hour
so you could smell what time it was.

Candle clocks.

Candle clocks were first used
1000 years ago. There were lines
put on it, that represent the hours.
This is how you could see
how many hours had passed since
you lighted it.
The English say that the candle clock
was invented by king Alfred de Grote.

Hour-glass.

The hour-glass was
often used in Europe, by tow-boats
and divine servants in the Middle Ages.
It was actually not sand
that passed through the opening
between the two glass bubbles,
but ground egg-shell.
Real sand was to rough.