From pocket watch to a fashion accessory. What was once, in the earliest years of portable watches, considered to be unsuitable for gentlemen and only for women, has grown nowadays into a fashion utensil that everybody has. In the meantime, the wristwatch is no longer only a instrument to tell the time. It is a designer piece and can indicate much more than the time.
A great deal of mechanics in a small housing
The first confirmable portable timepiece was constructed in 1500. This was not a wrist watch, but more of a pocket watch. Through technical progress, which made it possible for people to house mechanics in an increasingly smaller space, the required parts of the clockworks were able to be brought into a manageable form. In this way, the first pocket watch was born, which at the time was still the size of an egg.
The computerized wrist watch from Japan
A completely different wristwatch came onto the market in the 1970’s from Japan, which had built its own watch industry. The new watch from Japan was no more set on a mechanical basis, but on a computerized control. This watch expanded its range of capability quickly. The watch no longer just showed the time. The little timepiece on the wrist now also knew the date, the day of the week and even knew whether a leap year was involved.
The wristwatch as jewelry
Nowadays, the wristwatch is no longer just a watch. The wrist watch has become a fashion accessory. Wrist watches come in all colours and forms thinkable. One can also purchase compatible watches from all fashion collection. The current watches are dominated by the correct fashion trends. Despite these different trends, there is something for every taste. The tiny watches, which need spectacles to tell the time, and the extravagant huge watches, which make it difficult to walk upright. Anyway, one thing is clear: science is still likely to make so much progress – that the wristwatch will be found on the wrists of people for a long time, to answer the question as to what time it is.
