They perfected their art in an age when every second was precious, life was short and anything from the plague to civil war brought chaos and disruption.

In candlelit workshops using precious metals and the cutting-edge technology of the age, they brought time to life in watches and clocks that became status symbols for the rich and showcased their remarkable technical skills.

Now the art and skill of the earliest clock and watchmakers will be celebrated in an exhibition which draws together a prized collection of dazzling timepieces featuring intricately engraved patterns and inscriptions, grand clocks and elegant designs with such complex workings that it’s hard to believe they are four centuries old and still working.

The exquisite timepieces come from the private collection of Dr John C Taylor – a prolific inventor whose creations include a thermostat control for use with electric kettles, a device which is reckoned to be used more than a billion times a day around the world.

Among the most fascinating pieces in the exhibition, The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1550 to 1750, will be two highly decorated watches made by Fife-born pioneering watchmaker David Ramsay, Royal Clockmaker to King James VI and the first master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, founded in 1631.

One is a striking silver gilt-metal astronomical watch dating from around 1620 and featuring a detailed engraving of the King which, given Ramsay’s royal connection, is thought to have been presented to a loyal follower as a sign of the monarch’s deep affection.

As well as telling the time, the watch features a zodiac clock and shows the phases of the Moon.

The other, an intricately engraved oval watch, features a backplate bearing the words “David Ramsay Scotus me fecit,” reflecting the maker’s pride in his Scottish heritage.

According to Dr Tacye Phillipson, senior curator of science at National Museums Scotland, the exhibition will highlight the skill of early watch and clockmakers, who combined scientific understanding of the passage of time and its connection to the universe with an eye for design and undeniable skill.

She said: “One thing that stands out is how heavily engraved some of the watches are. They really do have that ‘bling’ factor.” “These were watches that were not made to be hidden away in a pocket.

“They were worn as jewellery – rather like today’s watches.

“The exhibition challenges our assumptions about how clocks and watches were once used.”

It will include 25 objects which demonstrate the early age of British clock and watchmaking, when owning a timepiece made of precious metal was considered the ultimate status symbol and only affordable for the very rich.

Before the 17th century, clock and watchmaking was primarily the domain of mainland European makers, many of whom had fled to Britain to escape religious persecution.

Ramsay initially worked as a goldsmith in St Andrews before learning the art of watch and clockmaking in France.

He is said to have been summoned to London by James VI, where he was appointed Page of the Bedchamber and Groom of the Privy Chamber, as well as Keeper of all His Majesty’s Clocks and Watches.

“It appears that a mixture of his clockmaking skills and the politics of James VI looking to surround himself with Scots led to his appointment as Page of the Bedchamber,” said Dr Phillipson.

“The job description suggests rather menial work but it was a hugely important political role and meant he had direct access to the King.

“Whenever he wanted to escape his Privy Council, he would go to his bedchamber, where he surrounded himself with Scots.”

While 17th-century watch and clockmakers often worked in silver and gold, most pieces were melted down and their cases recycled, meaning that precious few remain from the era.

The exhibition, which will open at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh early next month, will focus on how the horologist’s skill and art developed, telling the story of the scientific and technical advances during periods of extreme turmoil.

Examples range from early wrought iron clocks made by blacksmiths to the invention of the pendulum clock and the balance spring which improved accuracy to within a few seconds a day.

It will also spotlight some of the collaborations between important makers, and the first example of mass-produced watches, made in the early 17th century by Thomas Tompion, the “Father of English Clockmaking”, who used subcontractors to make the parts and movements of his watches.

They were then completed in his workshop by a team of apprentices, with around 5,000 eventually rolling off his production line.

Despite their grand age, most of the timepieces in the display are in working order and there are plans to show some in operation at selected periods during the exhibition.

Dr Taylor is said to have become fascinated with watches while watching his father take one apart and rebuild it at the family dining table.

He conceived and funded several public clocks, including the Corpus Clock on the outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, which has no hands or numerals and instead shows the time by opening gaps in the clock face.

Dr Phillipson said: “Clocks and watches were the first manufactured mechanical objects and it’s great to show some early examples in the National Museum of Scotland. “The innovation produced by these wonderful articles initiated the necessity to protect the intellectual property behind their development – something that we take for granted today.”