LLABAN, JUNE CLEAR O.

WATCHES

 History
-Wrist watches weren’t always worn on the wrist. Sometimes, especially in the early
years, they were carried in the pocket or attached on a chain. While today we have
largely one type of wrist watch and several styles, over the years the type of
wristwatches varied greatly. They evolved from big, clumsy and mechanical to small, but
preferred by women and later into a useful tool for aviators and military men. They soon
became more than a useful tool and are now jewels or fashion statements.
Watches were very different in the past and small things we now take for granted, like
the minute hand, were not so normal back then. Let’s see when and how the wristwatch
appeared and how it evolved.

 Evolution of Watch
 1275 –The mechanical clock is invented in England
 1504-1508 –Peter Henlein invents what is considered to be the first pocket
watch. But this invention is rather disputed
 1541 –The Swiss watch industry is born. Reformer John Calvin of Geneva
bans people from wearing jewelry, altering the future of Switzerland.
Geneva’s jewellers are forced to learn another craft and are taught the art of
watchmaking by refugees from France and Italy.
 1574 –The first known pocket watch is created, but the inventor remains
unknown. The watch, crafted in bronze, depicts Saint George slaying a
dragon on the front and the Crucifixion on the back.
 1657 –The balance spring is invented by either Robert Hooke or Christiaan
Huygens.
 1680-1700 –The minute hand is introduced in Britain in 1680 & 1700 in
France.
 1812 –Breguet creates a watch to fit on a wrist (the first wristwatch), for
Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples.
 1820 –The keyless clock emerges, doing away with the need to use a key for
winding or setti.
 1868 –Patek Philippe of Patek Philippe&Co made the first wristwatch.
Perpetual calendar and the split-seconds hands appear.
 1904 –Cartier and his master watchmaker, Edmond Jaeger come up with the
first prototype for a man’s watch called the Santos wristwatch.
 1914-1918 –Soldiers were given wristwatches, called “trend watches.”
 1930 –Breitling Watch Company patents the first stopwatch.
 1957 –The term “electric watch” becomes generic and popular, and referred
to any watch that was powered by electricity.
 1962 –Rado becomes known as originator of the scratch-proof watch with
the release of DiaStar I, made of hard metal.
 1969 –The quartz watch is introduced.
 1979 –The Delirium is introduced as the thinnest watch in the world,
measuring 1.98mm.
 1983 –Swatch introduces its first plastic Swiss quartz watch, marketing the
line as affordable fashion items.
 1999 –Watch brands turn to space-age materials such as titanium and carbon
fiber.
 2000 –Watch companies such as Ulysse Nardin and Patek Philippe begin
usinhg high-tech materials like silicon and ceramic in their movements.