Trained as a silversmith and clockmaker in Vermont. 1830s - set up business in New York as a jeweller. 1834 - trading as Bliss & Creighton, he made and marketed chronometers and other items for navigational use. 1845 - Bliss & Creighton patented a new design for a chronometer balance wheel to correct for the middle temperature error. 1853 - Bliss & Creighton dissolved acrimoniously leading to a long running legal case. 1855 - taking his son into business, formed John Bliss & Son.