In the first half of the 19th century Heinrich Johann Kessels (1781-1849) was one of the most renowned makers of chronometers outside England. He worked with Abraham Louis Breguet in Paris and in 1821 he established his own workshop in Altona. Apart from box and pocket chronometers Kessels produced fine pendulum clocks for several astronomical observatories. His chronometers show a strong English influence, but are also very consistent with the style of Breguet.
Kessels became member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1831 and of the Mathematical Society in Hamburg (1837). He was in correspondence with the foremost astronomers and scientists of his time, e.g. Schumacher, Bessel and Hansteen.