It’s difficult to envisage a world where timepieces don’t exist. These functional devices have been an important accessory for centuries and remain popular with consumers today. Follow us and delve deeper into the history of watches—from pocket watches to wrist watches—
Ladies Watches
As far as history knows, the first wristwatch was designed for the Queen Caroline Murat of Naples in 1810 by Abraham-Louis Breguet. Up until this point, men kept their watches on a chain attached to their pocket, women were still wearing them on chains around their necks.
Patek Philippe, another popular name in luxury watches, designed a bracelet watch for the Countess Koscowicz of Hungary in 1868.
Gents Watches
During World War 1, pocket watches began to be displaced by wristwatches. It became more and more impractical to always have to pull your timepiece out of your pocket. Loved for being easily accessible, men, in the field, began to appreciate a watch worn on the wrist.
Otherwise know as “trench watches”. They featured luminous hands for visibility in low light conditions and a more robust construction to withstand the harsh realities of life in the trenches.
Over the next few years, watch wristlets- as they were known, went from being seen as a strategic military tool to a manly fashion accessory.
Wristwatches became a fashion statement, with designs evolving to match the changing tastes and trends of the times.
From elegant, jewelled pieces to the sleek lines inspired by the Art Deco movement, wristwatches were seen as a reflection of one’s personal style and sophistication. The change and intricacy of watch movements have gripped the attention of watch lovers, across the decades.
