There were sandglass clocks.
"Our Legal Heritage, 4th Ed."
S. A. Reilly
To look out fairly was impossible; for not only was all the lower part of the frame hillocked up like a sandglass, and the sides filled in with dusky plaits, but even in the middle, where some outlook was, it led to very little.
"Erema My Father's Sin"
R. D. Blackmore
sandglass makers never achieved real accuracy or consistency, and careful mariners always used several at once, hoping to average out variations.
"The Moghul"
Thomas Hoover