In 1670, English clockmaker William Clement made use of a pendulum about a yard long that took a full second to move back and forth, allowing greater accuracy than ever before. He encased the pendulum and weights in wood in order to diminish the effect of air currents, thus was born the "grandfather's clock." For the first time, it made sense to add a minute hand to the dial, since it was now possible to measure time to the nearest second.