The first time signals to be distributed using telegraph wires came from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from the Shepherd master clock installed in 1852. By the early twentieth century, telegraph signals were widely used by a variety of customers including private companies, keen to demonstrate the latest technology to their customers. Rival telegraph time companies, such as the Standard Time Company, provided an alternative service. This time signal, based on an electric single-needle telegraph instrument, was on display in the window of Hancocks & Co. (Jewellers) Ltd, on the corner of Vigo Street and Sackville Street, London, and was actuated every hour.