Welcome to the Macau Watch & Clock Museum. We are honored to showcase our precious collection of timepieces to visitors from all over the world.

A Brief History of Watches & Clocks in Macau

Macau, historically known as "Haojing," opened its port for trade in 1554. In 1557, the Portuguese were permitted to build a city and settle here, marking over 400 years of its history as a port. With the opening of the Far East sea routes, Macau gradually evolved into a transportation hub centered on trade and religious exchange.

In the latter half of the 16th century, the Papacy and various religious orders made numerous attempts to enter mainland China for missionary work. Due to the unique social environment of China at the time, finding a way into the mainland became a pressing issue for missionaries. The Society of Jesus formulated a strategy with Macau as the Far East center. Missionaries first arrived in Macau to learn Chinese.

After much exploration, Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci adopted the missionary strategy of demonstrating Western science, becoming the first missionaries to bring clocks into mainland China. In 1582, Matteo Ricci arrived in Macau with a chiming clock, using it as a gift to slowly open the path north. After many twists and turns, he finally reached Beijing in 1601 to meet the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Ricci sent people to Macau to prepare gifts for the emperor, which included two large and small chiming clocks.

Before mechanical clocks were introduced to China, the imperial court and scholars commonly used timekeeping devices such as sundials, water clocks, and clepsydras, while the general public relied on observing the sun or natural phenomena like cat's eyes to estimate the time. In contrast, chiming clocks were accurate and provided intuitive time-telling, successfully capturing the emperor's attention and affection. From then on, the Forbidden City echoed with the "tick-tock" sound. These two chiming clocks successfully opened the door to China and became the origin of the imperial collection and even the manufacture of chiming clocks.

Entering the Qing Dynasty, technically skilled missionaries often landed and stayed in Macau. Emperor Kangxi repeatedly recruited Portuguese individuals like Tomás Pereira and Antoine Thomas from Macau to serve in the imperial court. The collection of clocks gradually expanded from the palace to the common people. The growing market demand led to a flourishing clock trade. By the Qianlong era, the clock trade reached its peak. Under the Canton System, Guangzhou became the sole trading port, while Macau served as the residence for these foreign merchants and their families. Outside the trading season (August to January), merchants from Britain, France, Switzerland, and other countries would return to live in Macau. Some were buried here after their passing, such as family members of Ilbery, the father of Chinese market watches, and the sister-in-law of Edward Bovey, the father of the Chinese lever watch. They now rest peacefully in the cemetery of the Morrison Chapel, not far from here. It can be said that Macau, as a procurement and transshipment point for clocks and watches, holds a special and distinguished place in the cultural history of Chinese horology.

Introduction to the Macau Watch & Clock Museum

Through long-term practice, ancient people gradually mastered the periodic astronomical and natural laws of the sun rising and setting, the moon waxing and waning, and seasonal changes, using these cyclical phenomena as a scale to measure time. Timepieces are products born and developed from ancient people's long-term practice and observation. From sundials, gnomon, water clocks, clepsydras, and hourglasses to the rise of mechanical clocks and watches, they transformed intangible time into measurable cyclical motion. As practical tools in daily life, timepieces are closely related to us. The creation of a timepiece encompasses the fusion of science and art, and is an extension and crystallization of humanistic spirit and knowledge. As a place of East-West cultural exchange, Macau is an indispensable and significant chapter in the history of Chinese watch and clock culture. However, with the ravages of war and changes in trading ports, Macau's horological history was gradually buried.

The Macau Watch & Clock Museum is a private museum consisting of two floors with a total of six exhibition areas. It is divided into four permanent exhibition areas (including the Modern & Contemporary Watches Zone, Panerai Zone, Antique Clocks & Pocket Watches Zone, and Watch Enthusiast Interactive Zone) and two non-permanent exhibition areas (including the Activity Zone and Master Collector Zone). We hope to showcase various timepieces from 400 years ago to the present, crossing time and space with our visitors to jointly explore and research this history.

Curator Fong Weng Ngai, a local Macau watch collector, has been sourcing timepieces from around the world for many years. Inspired by the belief that "joy shared is joy doubled," he collaborated with the museum team to build this fun and engaging museum from scratch. We welcome local visitors and guests from all corners of the world, aiming to preserve Macau's horological history, promote watch knowledge and culture, and contribute modestly to Macau's tourism industry. At the same time, we are honored to introduce Curator Fong's mentor and friend—Master Fok Fei Lok. As a local Macau independent watchmaker, he is also a mechanical engineer, antique clock restorer, a skilled watch repairer in the Chinese-speaking watch community, and a seasoned watch collector and critic. The museum is privileged to exhibit his works. We will work together to fill the gap in Macau's watchmaking industry and strive to cultivate more horological talent.