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A brief history of watches
 1480-1800
1480 - 1511: The beginnings of portable time
keeping. In Nürnberg, Germany, Peter Henlein creates
the first pocket watch. It is made of gilded brass and
has only one hand giving the approximate time. It is
ball shaped, yet oddly named a "Nürnberg Egg".
Henlein's invention would soon be imitated and other
Nürnberg Eggs followed.
1485: Leonardo da Vinci sketches a fusee for
a clock. This system would later be used in watches.
1535: Religion has had a strong influence on
the watch industry, and it had a major impact at this
time. Martin Luther's Protestant reformation took over
Geneva. In 1535, Geneva had no watch making industry
to speak of and was mostly known for its jewellery.
1541: Jean Calvin now moved to Geneva and turned
it into the centre of the reformation. As word of this
spread, Protestants from Paris and other watch making
centres fled to Geneva. Calvin had imposed many strict
laws banning theatre, dancing, and other forms of art
and entertainment. This included a ban on wearing elaborate
clothing and jewellery. Initially this seemed like doom
for Geneva's many fine jewellers, but one loophole in
Calvin's laws gave them opportunity. Calvin considered
watches an item of practical use, therefore allowed
in his new strict Protestant Geneva. Geneva's jewelers
then collaborated with the watchmakers who had recently
fled there to make watches with jewels, enamels, and
engravings. This collaboration spawned the beginning
of Geneva's luxury watch industry.
1575: Watches are now getting more drum shaped
and until 1600 also get more oval shaped.
Early 1600s:
Form watches are now starting to become popular. The
cases are shaped like animals and objects. Religious
themes are very popular, like skulls (for death) and
crucifixes.
Mid 1600s:
By now watches were coming with pair cases. These had
an outer case to protect the inner case of the watch.
1635: This was around the time that the fusee
was adapted from clocks to watches. This helped get
equal power to the mainspring regardless of whether
the watch was fully wound or nearly out of reserve power.
1659-1675: Christian Huygens in Holland invents
the "Remontoire". This keeps a more constant
force on the escapement. Also during this time the spiral
hairspring for the balance wheel was invented. There
are claims that either Robert Hooke invented this in
1664 or Christian Huygens in 1675. There is also a claim
that Thomas Thompion did in the same year. Regardless
of who invented it, it made great stride in terms of
accuracy. Now watches were accurate to within a few
minutes, adding the use for a minute hand on watch dials.
1687: Daniel Quare patents the repeating mechanism
that uses bells to sound quarter hours and the hours.
1700: The horizontal cylinder escapement is
invented by either Thompion or George Graham.
1704: Peter and Jacob Debaufre, along with Nicolas
Facio, are the first to use rubies in watch movements.
This greatly reduces friction which improves accuracy
and increases longevity of parts.
1715: George Graham invents the dead-beat escapement.
1725: George Graham invents the cylinder escapement,
which makes watches much slimmer.
1750: Around this time, watchmakers began using
enamel on watch dials to make them easier to read. Today,
making a genuine enamel dial is very labour intensive,
therefore expensive.
1755: Jean Marc Vacheron begins making his own
watches. He would later join with Francois Constantin
to form Vacheron Constantin.
1759: Thomas Mudge invents the English lever
escapement. The key advantage of this movement being
that the watch can be wound without stopping or losing
time.
1761-1762: John Harrison's marine chronometer
is the first timepiece to successfully determine longitude
at sea. At the time, there was a large monetary award
for any one who could be the first to accurately determine
longitude at sea. Before then, many sailors perished
on ships lost at sea that eventually ran aground and
found themselves in the wrong spot or at the wrong time.
Astronomers claimed to have the solution by using the
stars for longitude, while watch and clock makers raced
to solve the problem with timing. Both factions raced
to earn the prize. Harrison had many competitors and
some tried to stop him, but after many years and four
different chronometers, he succeeded in spite of the
heavy composition.
1770: Watch cases were now getting more elaborate.
Machine turned cases, cases made of tortoiseshell, and
enamel painted cases were all making the pocket watch
more decorative.
1773: John Harrison collects his prize for his
marine chronometer.
1775: Abraham Louis Breguet sets up his own watch
making shop in Paris, France.
1780: Abraham Louis Perrelet, one of Breguet's
early instructors, invents the self winding movement.
Breguet would later improve this feature.
1783: Abraham Louis Breguet invents the gong
spring for repeaters. He also designs his own style
hands and numbers, which are still named after him today.
The gong spring helped make repeaters much smaller.
1783: Breguet begins work on his famous "Queen
Marie Antoinette" watch. The watch features self-winding,
minute repeating, perpetual calendar, independent seconds,
equation of time, thermometer, and power reserve. It
also had a rock crystal dial to show off the amazing
movement. Unfortunately the watch took so long to complete
that the Queen never got to see the final product. In
1983 it was stolen from a museum in Jerusalem and to
this day the watch
has not been recovered.
1786: Breguet is the first to use guilloche
on watch dials, which not only made them more attractive
but also more legiblel.
1790: Breguet invents the parachute anti lock
device to protect the balance wheel.
1791: J.F. Bautte founded the watch company
that would eventually become Girard-Perregaux.
1795: Breguet invents the tourbillion. One of
his greatest achievements, this device compensates for
positional errors in the escapement caused by gravity.
It remains one of the most difficult mechanisms to manufacture
today.
1795: Breguet invents the Breguet over coil
balance spring. This greatly improves accuracy and is
still used in high quality mechanical watches.
1798: Breguet invents the "Sympathique".
This is a clock and watch set. When the watch is not
in use, it sets into a recess in the clock. The clock
would then adjust and reset the watch. Later versions
also rewound the watch. In 1991 this system was adapted
to a wristwatch / clock set.
1799: Breguet invents the "Tact" watch,
also known as the "watch for the blind". With
this watch, the wearer could feel the exposed pointer
on the case to determine the time.
Late 1700s:
With all of the latest technical innovations, movements
are now much smaller, and form watches re emerge in
even more styles than before.
1800-1950
Early 1800s:
Thanks to Breguet's invention of the gong spring, repeaters
are much more compact and repeaters are now getting
very popular.
1801: Breguet gets the patent for the tourbillion.
1807: Thomas Young invents the recording chronograph.
1809: Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
is the first watch manufacturer in America. He has produced
only approximately 600 watches in total.
1810: Breguet makes the first wristwatch for
the Queen of Naples. There are many other claims to
the first wristwatch title, but Breguet's is documented.
1820: Thomas Prest registers a patent for the
self-winding watch.
1821: Rieussec gets a patent the chronograph.
There are also claims that Breguet invented this.
1827: The Breguet "Marie Antoinette"
watch is finally completed four years after Abraham
Louis Breguet's death. The major part of the work was
executed by Michael Weber, one of the firm's best watchmakers.
1830: Seven years after Breguet's death, the
Breguet company introduces a watch that can be wound
or set using only one crown. Breguet, along with many
other companies, would claim to be the first to have
invented this.
1833: Antoine LeCoultre starts his own watchmaking
business. It would later become Jaeger-LeCoultre.
1837: The first Tiffany store opens.
1838: The Swiss watch firm Audemars claims to
have developed the first watch that can be wound or
set through the crown.
1843: Adrien Philippe, of Patek Philippe fame,
develops a watch with winding and setting through the
crown.
1844: The start, stop, and reset chronograph
is invented by Adolph Nicole; he works on this development
until 1862.
1844: Antoine LeCoultre invents the millionometre.
This precise system helps make movements much smaller.
1845: Adolphe Lange begins watch making in Glashütte,
Germany.
1845: Adrien Philippe joins Patek & Cie
to form Patek Philippe & Cie.
1846: Ulysse Nardin is established.
1847: Antoine LeCoultre develops a watch with
winding and setting through the crown.
1848:Louis Brandt opens his own workshop in
La Chaux-de-Fonds; this eventually became the Omega
Watch Company.
Mid 1800s:
Swiss watches now dominate the world market. Ladies
jeweled watches are very popular. Thanks to numerous
advances in technology, watches are now more mass produced
and more affordable. They are also much more accurate.
Perpetual calendars. retrograde displays, jumping hours
and split second chronographs, were getting popular
as well. The Swiss lever escapement is now used more
than the English lever because it functions with less
wear to the escape wheel and with better accuracy.
1850s: The going barrel replaces the fusee,
making watches much more compact.
1851: The "Warren Manufacturing Company"
is founded. It would later become the "Waltham
Watch Company", one of the most significant watch
companies in American history.
1853: Tissot makes the first dual time zone
watch.
1856: Eterna is founded. It was originally called
U. Schild and adopted the name Eterna only in 1906.
1858: Minerva is founded.
1860: Heuer is founded. They would become known
for their chronographs.
1860: Chopard opens.
1865: Zenith founded.
1868: An American from Boston named Florentine
Jones moves to Shaffhausen, Switzerland to start International
Watch Company, (IWC).
1869: The Illinois Watch Company is founded.
1875: Audemars Piguet & Cie is established.
1880: Girard-Perregaux is the first company
to mass produce wristwatches, primarily for military
use.
1881: Movado founded.
1884: Breitling starts.
1884: Greenwich, England is officially named the zero
meridian and used as the world wide recognized basis
of time zones.
1886: Geneva Seal established.
1891: April 19th --Two trains collide in Kipton,
Ohio, killing 11 people. This for those days impressive
accident occurred because a conductor's watch had stopped,
thereby the trains schedule in disarray. After this
tragedy, a commission was formed to regulate the standards
of railroad watches. With many trains moving so fast
on the same tracks, accurate timing had become imperative.
These railroad watches had to be durable, accurate,
and easy to read in a quick glance. The regulations
stated that an official railroad watch could not run
fast or slow by 30 seconds or more in a period of 7
to 14 days watches. In these days American watches were
by far the most accurate and names like Howard and Waltham
ruled the day.
1892: Aarne Bonniksen of Coventry, England invents
the "Karrusel". It is similar to the tourbillion,
but larger, slower, and less complicated to manufacture.
1892: The Hamilton Watch Company is founded
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. To day it owned by
the Swiss "Swatch Group".
1892: Ingersoll introduces the "Dollar"
watch. This inexpensive model brought watches to the
masses. By 1916 Ingersoll was making 16,000 watches
per day. Their slogan was "The Watch That Made
The Dollar Famous".
Late 1800s:
The wristwatch was now growing in popularity, especially
with the military. Many of these were pocket watches
with wire lugs attached to accommodate a strap.
1894: Universal Geneve established.
1904: Cartier makes a watch for Alberto Santos
Dumont. The watch is sold commercially in 1911 and is
still one of Cartier's most popular models and much
imitated.
1905: Hans Wilsdorf starts the Rolex Watch Company
together with his brother in law. The company was originally
named Wilsdorf & Davis. The Rolex name was not officially
registered until 1908.
1906: Omega introduces the first minute repeater
wristwatch. The movement was made by Audemars Piguet.
1912: Movado introduces the "Polyplan",
the first wristwatch with a curved movement and case.
There were other watches with curved cases, but a curved
movement was a new technical achievement.
1914: Eterna introduces the first wristwatch
with an alarm.
1914: The first radio time signal was transmitted
from the Eiffel Tower in Paris and in Nordeich, Germany.
1917: Cartier introduces the "Tank"
watch, which still enjoys continued success until today.
1918: In Japan, the Shakosha Watch Company opened.
This would become Citizen in 1931.
1920: Charles Edouard Guillaume wins the Nobel
prize for inventing Invar and Elinvar. The composition
of these metals causes them to be almost unaffected
by temperature variations. The metals would be used
for balance springs, thus greatly improving accuracy.
1920s-1930s: Art Deco styles become popular
as wristwatches gain in popularity and pocket watch
sales decline.
1923: John Harwood is the first to mass produce
a self winding wristwatch. The watch was set by rotating
the bezel and had no crown.
1924: In Tokyo, the Seiko brand name is launched
by Kinttaro Hattori. It was formerly named "Timekeeper"
and watch making was started in 1881.
1925: The first year to use Daylight Savings
Time.
1926: Rolex introduces the first waterproof
case called the "Oyster". It features a "Twinlock"
crown that screws down to keep out moisture.
1927: Mercedes Gleitze swims across the English
Channel wearing a Rolex. This was the first great publicity
coup for Rolex. There would be many more as Rolex became
the most recognized luxury watch brand in history.
1928: Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces the "Atmos",
an amazing clock that runs on changes in temperature.
A temperature change of just one degree suffices to
keep the clock running for up to two days.
1929: The quartz crystal clock is invented by
W.A. Marrison.
1929: Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces the world's
tiniest watch movement. It measures 14mm x 4.8mm x 3.4mm
and weighs 1 gram.
1929: First anti magnetic watch created by Tissot.
1931: Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces the "Reverso".
Developed for polo players, the case flips over to expose
the back and protect the crystal. One of the world's
first sports watches. Today the Reverso is a whole collection
of watches including a tourbillon, minute repeater,
a double watch, jewelry style and others.
1931: Rolex introduces a self winding model
called the "Perpetual".
1932: Patek Philippe introduces their first
"Calatrava" model.
1933: Advances in metallurgy make Nivarox the
metal of choice for hairsprings. It is harder than Elinvar,
anti magnetic, and non rusting. These hair springs come
in various grades, with Nivarox 1 being the best. Nivarox
is still used in many good watches to day.
1933: Ingersoll introduces the "Mickey
Mouse" watch. This is not the first comic character
watch, but definitely the most popular. Its great success
inspired many other watch companies to offer their own
character watches and they are very collectible today.
1935: Gruen introduces the "Curvex".
The great success of this model helps fuel the explosion
of curved watches that will go into the 1940s.
1936:Universal Geneve introduces the "Compax"
chronograph. This was the first chronograph with an
hour counter and its style helped launch the popularity
of all chronographs.
1937: Edmond Jaeger joins Antoine LeCoultre
to form the Jaeger-LeCoultre company in the famous Vallée
de Joux in the Jura mountains north-west of Geneva
1942: Breitling introduces the "Chronomat".
1945: Rolex introduces their first "Datejust".
1948: Omega introduces their first "Seamaster".
1948: Eterna is the first to mount the self
winding rotor on tiny ball bearings to reduce friction.
1950-2000
1952: Breitling introduces the "Navitimer"
which becomes the quintessential pilot's watch.
1953: The "Submariner" introduced
by Rolex.
1954: Rolex launches the "GMT Master".
1955: Rene Bannwart, designer for Omega, leaves
the company to start up his own watch brand and Company
named Corum.
1955: Louis Essen and JVL Perry develop the
first Atomic Clock.
1956: Rolex introduces their first model that
displays the day and date.
1957: Hamilton introduces the world's first
battery driven watch. The watch had its share of problems
but marked the beginning of a very serious crisis in
the Swiss mechanical watch industry, almost leading
to its complete demise.
1957: Buren makes the first self winding watch
with a micro rotor.
1959: Piaget introduces the 12P, the thinnest
self winding watch in the world at 2.33 mm thick.
1960: Bulova introduces its very successful
"Accutron" model. This battery-operated watch
replaced the balance wheel with a tuning fork. The system
was much more accurate than previous battery operated
watches.
1961: Movado introduces the "Museum"
watch, a model remaining popular till to day. The dial
had been designed 14 years earlier by Nathan George
Horwitt.
1962: Rado produces the world's first scratch
proof watch called the "Diastar 1", a classic
still popular in some markets to day.
1962: ETA of Switzerland develops the first
quartz battery operated watch called the "Beta
21". This is by far the most accurate and dependable
system to date. Instead of starting to produce quartz
watches for the general public, they did not use this
new, by them invented, technology and continued to produce
mechanical movements.
1966: Girard-Perregaux produces the world's
first high frequency mechanical movement, (36,000 vibrations
per hour). Most mechanical watches have a rate of 18,800
or 28,800 vibrations per hour.
1969: Seiko introduces the "Astron",
the first quartz watch available to the general consumer.
Not many Astrons were made, but this marked the beginning
of the Japanese quartz watch domination.
1969: Man lands on the moon and NASA choses
the Omega Speedmaster as the watch to go to the moon
with them. The Omega Speedmaster remains the first watch
worn on the moon.
1969: In a race to develop the first self winding
chronograph, Zenith and Movado collaborate to introduce
the "El Primero".
1970: Hamilton releases the "Pulsar",
the first electronic digital watch. At the push of a
button, the light emitting diode (LED) would light up
the red numbers. This was easy to read, but exhausted
batteries quickly.
1972: Longines and Seiko introduce a new type
of digital display with the LCD, (Liquid Crystal Display).
It displays the time continously, in contrast with the
LED's push button method.
1972: Audemars Piguet introduces the "Royal
Oak", the first stainless steel luxury sports watch.
What seemed risky back then, is the leading trend today.
1974: Paul Picot founded.
1976: Patek Philippe introduces the "Nautilus".
1976: Citizen makes the first light powered
watch.
1979: Vacheron Constantin introduces the "Kallista",
the world's most expensive watch. With 130 carats of
diamonds, it is worth approximately 9 million dollars.
1979: Concord releases the "Delirium",
the world's thinnest watch, (1.98mm). As the battle
for the thinnest watches continues, the Delirium IV
is released at an amazing .98 mm thick. Thin, but not
very practical, as the case would bend on the wearer's
wrist.
1980: Hublot founded.
1983: Despite the popularity of quartz watches,
Gerd Lang starts his own mechanical watch company named
Chronoswiss.
1983: SMH of Switzerland launches the Swatch
brand. It immediately takes off and gives the inexpensive
Japanese quartz watch brands a run for their money.
The many different and sometimes crazy styles were an
instant success, and at about $35, people bought not
just one but many. Several limited edition Swatches
have fetched hundreds, even thousands, of Swiss Francs
in the collectors' market.
1984: The Texas-based Fossil watch brand is
launched. With its retro styling and packaging, Fossil
limited editions are an instant success with collectors.
Mid 1980s:
The mechanical watch starts to make a comeback. Digital
"fatigue" and appreciation for the true values
of genuine mechanical masterpieces made in a centuries
old tradition resurge.
1985: The Swiss Heuer Company merges with TAG
to form TAG Heuer.
1985: IWC releases the "Da Vinci",
a self winding, perpetual calendar which enjoys continued
success today.
1985: Citizen introduces the "Aqualand",
the first diver's watch with a depth sensor.
1985: Ulysse Nardin introduces the "Astrolabium
Galileo Galilei" which makes it into the Guiness
Book of Records. This watch indicates the position of
the sun, moon, and stars. It also shows sunrise, sunset,
dawn, dusk, moon phases, moon rise and moon set, eclipses
of the sun and moon, the month and the day. It was developed
by Ulysse Nardin's in house genius Ludwig Öchslin
and he would later develop two other complicated watches
to form a trilogy set.
1986: Patek Philippe introduces the secular
calendar, which factors out the adjustment in the gregorian
calendar every 400 years.
1986: Audemars Piguet introduces the first self
winding tourbillon.
1987: Alain Silberstein of Besançon,
France opens his own watch company. His designs remain
truly unique and instantly recognizable.
1988: Chronoswiss makes the first regulator
wristwatch.
1988: Ulysse Nardin's Ludwig Öchslin develops
the "Planetarium Copernicus", a watch that
displays the position of the planets in relation to
the Sun and Earth. It also shows the moon rotating around
the Earth and has a perpetual calendar indicating the
month and signs of the zodiac.
1988: Jean d'Eve and Seiko release watches that
are automatic / quartz hybrids. The rotor inside charges
the watch, so battery replacement is not necessary.
Though this system had its problems, this technology
would be improved and reintroduced later by Seiko.
1989: The world's most complicated watch, the
Patek Philippe Caliber 89 is sold for 3.2 million dollars
(including commissions etc.). It has 33 different functions
and took nine years to complete.
1990: Daniel Roth, who was instrumental in the
rebirth of the Breguet brand, launches his own brand
of watches bearing his name.
1991: Junghans unveils the "Mega 1",
the first watch capable of receiving a radio signal
to synchronize the watch with an atomic clock.
1991: Franck Muller founded.
1991: At the height of the Swatch craze, the
"Kiki Picasso" Swatch sells for 62,000 Swiss
Francs.
1992: Timex unveils "Indiglo", a back
lit display that illuminates the entire dial equally.
This is by far the easiest watch to read in the dark.
Today this same system can be found on many watches,
ranging from Timex to Omega.
1992: Ulysse Nardin completes their trilogy
set with the "Tellurium Johannes Kepler".
This piece shows the rotation of the Earth as seen from
the North Pole. It also shows which part of the Earth
is exposed to the sun, and indicates sunrise and sunset.
Lastly it shows the moon rotating around the Earth and
eclipses of the sun and the moon.
1994: Seiko unveils the "Kinetic",
a greatly improved automatic / quartz hybrid compared
to the one they made in 1988. Now there are similar
movements in Swiss watches.
1994: The A. Lange & Söhne brand is
revived in Germany and quickly earns a position on top
of the horological world along with the most prestigious
Swiss brands.
1994: After years of planning, Roland Murphy
introduces his own watch brand, (RGM).
1995: Symbolic of our lives becoming more dependent
on computers, Timex unveils the "Data-Link".
The watch "reads" information off of a computer
screen to remember schedules, telephone numbers, etc.
1995: Citizen releases a line of "Eco-Drive"
solar powered watches. Much better looking (not as obviously
solar) than previous solar powered watches (designed
by the famous Swiss designer Jörg Hysek), they
last an amazing 500 days on a full charge.
1996: Philippe Dufour unveils the "Duality".
The movement feature two escapements which average against
each other to improve accuracy. This system was developed
to rival the tourbillon.
1996: Parmigiani brand launched.
1996: Rado unveils the "Vision 1",
a watch that features a crushed diamond crystal. Until
now sapphire crystals were the hardest. The Vision 1
remains an experimental model not being produced for
the public at large as of yet.
1997: Patek Philippe unveils their "Annual
Calendar" which runs without being adjusted for
one full year.
1999: Watches that run on the difference in
temperature between the air and the wearer's wrist are
launched by Seiko (the "Thermic") and Citizen.
1999: Omega unveils the "Co-Axial".
This movement was developed by George Daniels and has
a new escapement that has less friction, which results
in higher accuracy and requires less service.
1999: Casio innovates with the first wristwatch
with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS).
1999: IWC introduces the "Deep One",
the first mechanical watch with a depth gauge
- Shravanti Choudhuri
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