The Beginning Of Watches

The watch has become not only a practical item but also a fashion statement and a culture symbol. Peter Henlein created the first pocket watch back in 1524, in Germany. In 1548 and later in 1575 more watches appeared in Switzerland and England. At this point in time, the most stringent problem was the driving mechanism.

In most cases, weights were used for watches but this made them impossible to be carried and also very impractical. The old watches were not very accurate because they only had one hand for the hour and had to be winded twice a day.

The greatest innovation at that time was the spiral leaf mainspring because it allowed long-term power without weights. However big was this discovery, it couldn’t improve the accuracy of the watches, mostly because of the difference between the small arc and the long arc. When the English and the French invented the fusee, this stopped being a problem. This invention managed to stop the watch when it was winded. After this, additional stops where included.

In the 1600s the trend was to wear watches shaped as animals or objects. The religious theme was also very popular among customers. In those days, people considered watches to be more fashion items rather than serious timekeeping items. The first time rubies were used to create an accurate watch was back in 1704. Ten years later, the watch-making society started to use enamel to make dials more visible in low light. The one that invented the first self-winding movement was Abraham Perrelet in 1780. The invention was patented in 1820 by Thomas Prest.

In 1884 Greenwich, New England became the zero meridian. A fact accepted worldwide. The watch-making industry improved and developed new and innovative items from the beginning of the 1900s. Today, when wearing a watch you are making a statement. It only depends on what kind of statement you want to make so choose well when purchasing such an item.

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