Can Pardal or the “Clock Factory”

Introduction:
At the end of the 19th century, in the face of the growth of Gracia, the owners of Can Pardal decided to urbanize their land and demolish the farmhouse to build the building we see today with a porticoed gallery and a tower with a clock and bells. However, it seems that before it was demolished, this farmhouse housed an illustrious character: Albert Billeter, a Swiss watchmaker, who settled in Gracia for almost thirty years.

Content:
"Tower Clock Factory for churches, railways, factories, and country houses. Watches, electric telegraphs, and scientific instruments," was the name that the Swiss Albert Billeter used to advertise his establishment. Billeter had left La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, where he studied watchmaking, passed through Italy, and ended up in the Vila de Gràcia. The first thing he did upon arrival was to create a large astronomical clock that showed the movement of the Earth and the moon concerning the sun, provided the local time and that of 20 other meridians, among other data. Without thinking twice, Billeter sent a letter to the Congress of Madrid in which, after pointing out that there was a "national watchmaking" that could make Spain independent from foreign sources, he offered the astronomical clock in exchange for a sum of money that would allow him to open a permanent workshop. Congress bought the clock, which still works and is located in the Palace of Congress. And it must have been quite a sensation, as subsequently, the other chamber of representatives, the Senate, commissioned Billeter to create an even larger astronomical clock. Billeter took almost ten years to make it, and with the political upheavals of the time, the Senate lost interest, and the clock remained without a buyer. Over time, it passed into the hands of the Moragues family of carpenters, who were the creators of the clock's furniture. When Billeter was no longer in Barcelona, the clock was exhibited at the Science Pavilion of the 1888 Universal Exhibition, where it won a gold medal. Later, it was acquired by the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, which still owns it. Billeter was also the author of the clock of the Gracia Bell Tower, which was changed in 1929 when it was moved to the hotel at Plaza España, which served as the entrance to the venue for that year's Universal Exhibition. In 1952 it was dismantled from the hotel, and since then, it has been lost track of. In 1865, Billeter built the clock of the Cathedral of Barcelona at the request of the City Council, which is still in operation.

Rutes científiques de Barcelona