History of Watches

The history of watches and clocks can be traced back to the origin of human civilization. Egypt and Mesopotamia were the regions where stationary as well as portable sundials were first developed. An old sundial from ancient Egypt (1500 BCE) can be found even today. However, even before the creation of sundials, Egyptians made use of pyramids. It is believed that one of the earliest watches were developed in Italy. Let us have a look at the history and timeline of watches through following paragraphs.

Watches and Clocks History

The portable clocks operated by springs were the earlier forms of timepieces. 'Mainspring' was the component which helped in making the watches portable. Watches made between the 1500s and 1600s were kind of hybrids between simple time clocks and watches. Only one hand (hour-hand) was present in these clock-watches. Made of brass, these timepieces had a cylindrical, drum-like shape. Striking movements and alarm mechanisms played an important part in the working of these timepieces.

Pocket Watches
The timeline of pocket watches extends from 1600 A.D. to 1657 A.D. Also known as watch fobs, the pocket watches were tailor-made to fit in pockets. These watches were rounded in shape however, the mechanism of actions being used was the same as earlier forms of timepieces. The verge escapement mechanism was used in these watches. It was used in driving a foliot. One of the parts was dumbbell shaped. Weights were present on its ends. It facilitated the back and forth oscillation. There was however, great scope for improvement in these watches. The focal point of improvement was the steep torque curve evening activity. The device called 'fusee' proved to be of great use in evening the steep torque curve. The fusee was a conical pulley connected to the mainspring barrel; a chain was wrapped around the fusee. The fusee became a standard device being used in pocket watches. It was used in watches for a long time, till the 19th century.

Wrist Watches
The wrist watch was first created by Patek Phillipe in 1868. Commercial aspect was introduced to the activity of wrist watch making in 1880. Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany had ordered as many as 2,000 watched for the naval officers of Germany. This event was important from the point of rise in popularity of wrist watches. Alberto Santos Dumont, an aviator from Brazil wanted a watch which could allow viewing his timing (during flights) without having to take hands off the controls. The 'Santos watch' was developed by Edmond Jaeger in an attempt to make a timepiece suitable for this need. The year 1911 was when the Santos wrist watches went on sale. The trench watches used by soldiers lost their popularity owing to their bulky size. These watches resembled pocket watches. In the year 1923, self-winding system was developed by John Hardwood. Technological development in the field of wrist watches opened the market for these goods. Today, there many famous watch brands are available in the market. The best men's watches are made in German, Switzerland, and Britain.

Electric Watches
The period between 1950 and 1969 saw the development of electric watches. An electromagnetically driven tuning fork was the core of electric watches. A battery-powered solenoid was used for the purpose of operating this tuning fork. The year 1957 was when these watches started appearing in the market. There are many brands of expensive watches for men and women in the market. The electric watches became very much popular.

The history of watches presented in this article gives information about different types of timepieces being used. The pocket and wrist watches were handy therefore, became popular in no time. Today's watches have undergone a great deal of improvement in terms of technology being used. The best watch brands ride on the wave of latest technological developments and offer quality products. The study of history of timepieces should therefore, be interesting.