Watches! How did people tell time in the era of the Roman Empire 2000 years ago?

Today, we tell time through the use of these ubiquitous instruments called watches. From a historical perspective though, the term watches referred to the division of the period between dusk and dawn or the time between sunset and sunrise.

Watchmen protecting villages in ancient times changed shifts at each of these intervals. The sounding of gongs during the change of shifts was a means of keeping time. Quite often these watchmen were also placed on watch-towers to warn of the approaching of enemies.

The earliest and most obvious means of telling time was by observing the sun. The basic sundial either fixed or a smaller movable version was probably the original means of designating time intervals. Sundials have been found in Egypt dating back to 1500 BCE. Isn't it amazing that we still measure the accuracy of our time measuring instruments by the scientific observation of the sun?

The most discernible object in the night sky is the moon and it was also used as a means of determining the time. The consistent and recognizable change in the shape and position of the moon over the regular and uniform monthly cycle of 30 days was the prime means of specifying the time and date in the absence of modern instruments. In other words, if ancient warriors were planning an attack on a village or city they could specify the date by indicating the shape of the moon (e.g. full moon) and the time by the position of the moon or by combination of both the sun and the moon (e.g. dawn).

The simple use of water and gravity facilitated the innovation of another ancient instrument called the clepsydra or water clock. Initially, this was just a container of water that had a small hole punched in it at the base. This allowed the water to drip out a little at a time drop by drop so that the level inside the vessel was lowered gradually against a scale to show the time. The first water clocks had problems especially with the rate of dripping, the diameter of the outlet and the regular refilling of the container. However these issues were soon resolved and the result was a very practical instrument for measuring time. The clepsydra which worked equally well indoors or anywhere regardless of the weather had an advantage over the sundial which could not be used at night, in stormy weather or indoors.

The clepsydra gave rise to an innovation that is still in use today, "the hourglass." The origins of the hourglass date back to the third century BCE. This device simply permitted the flow of sand particles through an opening at a uniform speeds from one sealed vessel to an adjoining one until one of the vessels was completely empty. When the hourglass was turned upside down, the process repeated itself again. Since the sand in the hourglass did not spill or need refilling, it provided solid advantages over the clepsydra. It was also cheap to make and the flow rate of the sand was steady whether the reservoir was full or near empty.

The first watches as we know them were invented in the 1500s. These were bulky cumbersome machines that relied on weight as their driving power. Most were quite inaccurate and only had the single hand for the determination of hourly intervals. The Renaissance period starting with the 17th century gave rise to many inventions and innovations that led ultimately to the development of modern watches and clocks as we know them today. Some of these include the invention of the repeating mechanism that used bells to sound quarter hours in the 1670s, the implementation of the spiral balance spring at around the same time and the invention of the self-winding movement in 1780. A second hand was added in the late 1600s and Roman numerals were added to mark the minutes. Eventually due to the rapid pace of innovative development, a watch would only have to be wound once a day instead of every twelve hours.

And today with quartz Wrist Watches utilizing batteries with up to four years of life, nothing needs to be done except read the time!

Clocks and watches today are both a marvel of artistry and technological design. They are a statement of style, individuality, social status or simple practicality.

Michael Renais is a designer of trendy casual of watches and is affiliated with ShoppeWatch.com, an on line retailer of casual wear and fashion watches for men and women.