A low-speed, fine-grained film such as Kodak TMax 100 or Ilford Delta 100

Well you said you wanted a "B/W photography negative", so I guess you do
not want slides

See below.  But if I had to recommend something, it would be D-76 or
maybe Ilford DD-X

If you need crisp sharp images, but yet you are asking these questions,
then you are in over your head if you planned on developing these
yourself.  It will take much practice before you get a set of negatives
without flaws.  

Also a tripod will be extremely important for "crisp sharp" images.

Are you sure you want to shoot B&W? If you pick a good slow speed
(100 ISO) color negative film you will have the option of reproducing
in color if the need should later arise.
Almost more important than the film is your choice of format.
If you are using 35mm it is very important to use a lens that will
be sharp at close distances such as a true macro lens. In addition
you want to have adequate light to shoot at a reasonable f-stop (8 or
11) and you want to make sure that you don't have any camera shake.
If you can you might consider using a medium format camera since the
larger negative will produce much less grainy results.

It almost sounds like you are documenting the clocks like you are
preparing for a book or a catalog.  Robert's comment about color has
some appeal.  You could certainly do worse.  A professional grade print
color film will give you more information than any other source.
Another related approach is to use a film like Ilford XP-2.  This is
B&W film that is developed in color chemistry... You can take it to a
drugstore if you want.  It is among the sharpest films available.

I think that as PGG suggests, a good setup for picture taking is going
to be more important for your image quality than film choice.  If I
were doing this I would use a copy stand, with the camera mounted
facing down (like an enlarger), and with really good lights.  At the
very least, invest in some good halogen or compact-fluorescent lamps to
illuminate your clocks and a really good tripod and shutter release so
your pictures are sharp.

One last note...  If you shoot black and white, be sure to use a filter
to snap up the blacks and whites.  A medium orange might be good.  For
a black and white film, if this had been two years ago I would have
recommended technical pan, but Kodak stopped making it.  As it is,
Ilford Delta 100 is probably about the best around.  For a developer
try DD-X, also from Ilford.

http://www.gigabitfilm.de/html/english/menu.htm

if you are looking for the max sharpness this film should be the right
one.

bye M.

  It would help to know more about your project such as the
ultimate purpose of the pictures.
  Your question about negatives or slides is a little
puzzling. In general B&W work is done from negatives. There
is one B&W slide film on the market, Agfa Scala, but it
takes special processing and is not really suitable for
making prints.
  Another reason for asking about the intended use is the
question about sharpness. In photography there are two
measures that are often confusing. One is sharpness, which
is _perceived_ detail, the other is resolution, which is the
ability of the film to record fine detail. There is an
effect called "acutance" which creates the optical illusion
of sharpness to the eye but these images may not actually
have a lot of fine detail in them. On the other hand one can
have images with a great deal of very find detail which do
not look particularly sharp to the eye.
  Both sharpness and detail will depend on the lens and
size of the negative as well as the film. For 35mm both lens
and film performance are close to the limit and both have to
be excellent. For larger sizes getting fine detail is easier
although good lenses are still necessary.
  Without further specific information about the project my
recommendation is to use Kodak 100T-Max or Fuji Acros films.
Both are high resolution, very fine grain, films which are
available in several formats. For processing most
conventional developers will do. Probably the optimum
developer is Kodak Xtol but there have been occasional
problem with it. For finest grain use Kodak Microdol-X or
Ilford Perceptol, these will give you good resolution but
not much acutance. Kodak D-76 is very reliable. It will give
you slightly more grain than Xtol. I use a lot of T-Max and
usually process it in D-76 diluted one part stock to one
part water.
  There are some other choices depending on what you are
doing and whether you have your own darkroom. If you are not
doing your own processing and printing I suggest one of the
"chromogenic" B&W films, good ones are made by both Kodak
and Ilford.  These can be processed in color film processing
machines and printed on either conventional B&W paper or
color paper. They have very fine grain and good sharpness.
This may be a good choice if you are working in 35mm size.
If possible use a larger size negative because the gain in
quality is quite noticable even at the next larger size (120
roll film). However, if you are not doing your own
processing and printing you will have to find a good custom
lab to do the work.