Watches originate from the 15th century when portable clocks first appeared. These portable clocks were powered by an invention that appeared around the same period, the mainspring. While some sources claim that the mainspring was invented by the clockmaker Peter Henlein from Nuremberg around 1511, this is erroneous as there is now proof that the first spring powered clocks appeared in the 15th century. Henlein is only credited for the creation of pocket watches, because of a passage by Johann Cochläus in 1511. There were also the first luxury watches.

The first timepieces, a transition in size between clocks and watches, that could be worn appeared in Europe in the 16th century. These ‘clock-watches’, having only an hour hand, were usually attached to the clothing or on a chain usually worn around the neck. They were engraved and ornamented, shaped as a cylindrical drum several inches in diameter. Back then they did not have a glass cover but had a decoratively hinged brass cover.

Wristwatches

The first wristwatch was created in 1868 by Patek Phillipe even though it was Constant Girard (Girard-Perregaux) that developed the concept of wristwatches in 1880. They were originally ordered Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany to be worn by German naval officers. At that time, two-thousand of watches, the very first important commercialization of wristwatches, were produced. For civilians however, wristwatches were mostly worn by women as a fashion accessory, being rarely worn by men.

Quartz watches

In 1969 there was a revolution in watch with the introduction of the quartz technology. It was powered by a battery oscillator circuit, using a quartz crystal resonator vibrating at 8,192 Hz. They were mostly used in luxury watches back then. Also, it used digital counters instead of a wheel train to add up the beats into seconds, minutes, and hours, resulting in better accuracy. Jaeger-LeCoultre watches are well known for their quartz systems.

One Response to “A brief history about watches”

1. Ricky Armand on June 13th, 2011 9:40 am

   Good comparison between the regular baby carriers and the one that britax has come up with recently.
   So are there any options available like different colors or sizes or something like that I can choose?

   I am already a father and I think this weight distribution thing does matter bcos no matter how strong you are the weight factor can have serious problems on you.
   The only good thing about baby carriers is that you have both your hands free to do other things.

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