The History of the Wristwatch
From the pocket watch to the wristwatch
The Wristwatch – today rather a fashionable accessory, a status symbol rather than a practical timepiece. The variety of types, shapes, and colors is huge and is strongly subject toin current fashion trends. So gone are the days when it was simply meant to tell the time. A huge hype that gives us reason enough to turn the clock back a few centuries and see how the wristwatch came to be developed in the first place.
The sense of time
Finally, hardly any achievement was as important to the development of Western society as the clock. Its invention made it possible to measure time precisely, arrange appointments, and develop a sense of punctuality. Urban life and industry could ultimately only emerge through its introduction. Just imagine a functioning economy without a universally accepted standard time. Not only hard to imagine, but impossible! The clock is a symbol of the modern age.
Around the year 1000, the desire for an instrument to organize social life became established, and from 1200 onward the first tower clocks appeared, to be admired on the cathedrals of major cities. They were the center and starting point of urban life.
Miniaturization of the watch
But before long, demand also grew for clocks for personal use. Watchmakers were therefore faced with the challenge of miniaturizing the individual parts and using a spring instead of weights. As a result, in the 15th century, alongside social and economic change in Europe, portable timepieces for personal use also began to gain popularity. At first, they found their way only into homes. But soon there were even smaller portable models—officers' watches or travel clocks—designed to be carried on journeys.
Pocket watches on the rise
Later, they were already being worn on the body. Valuable pendant watches for ladies and pocket watches for gentlemen were especially popular among the nobility. In the 19th century, the pocket watch then finally made its breakthrough, paving the way for the wristwatch as well. The need for a portable timepiece grew steadily stronger in the modern era, and there were now also manufacturers capable of producing large quantities at different price points. The production facilities for pocket watches were located primarily in the USA and Switzerland, which is still known today for high-quality and innovative watches. It is surely no coincidence that pocket watches were initially often worn simply on the left wrist. This gave rise to the wristwatch at the beginning of the 20th century.
Myths and Useless Knowledge
There are many different theories about its invention. One version of the success story, for example, traces it back to an unknown nanny who simply fastened her pocket watch to her wrist with a ribbon because it was more practical. Another theory is that officers commissioned watchmakers such as Omega or Eberhardt to develop a wristwatch, because modern warfare did not allow them to fumble around in their pockets looking for the time. There is also the story that Cartier was asked by a pilot friend to make a comfortable watch. Which History whatever the case, it is clear that functionality was the main focus during development.
Finally, it was here!
But for watchmakers, it was not enough simply to move the crown from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock and add the metal lugs for the strap. New technical and stylistic innovations were constantly in demand. Around 1920, Cartier introduced the first square wristwatches, the Santos and Tank models, which pioneered experimentation with design and form. In 1926, Rolex launched the Oyster, the first waterproof model. From 1970 onwards, the wristwatch market was flooded with electric watches and quartz watches. Many quartz watches now came from Japan, and it was only with the Swiss brand Swatch that Switzerland was able to re-establish itself in the watch market. Today, there is a wide range of drive systems and technical refinements that would once have been almost unimaginable. The Astron by Seiko for example, it is the first GPS world-time wristwatch powered by solar energy.
But in addition to functionality, design is increasingly taking center stage today as well. Because, as noted at the beginning, a wristwatch has long since become more than just a timepiece - it is also a piece of jewelry. After all, if all you wanted was to know the time, you could simply look at your phone, couldn't you?
