The History of Pocket Watches

Peter Henlien of Nuremberg, Germany, a famous locksmith was the first recorded inventor to create a watch in 1510. It was a small drum shaped Taschinuhe portable watch, occasionally called the "Nuremberg egg" which could run for forty hours before it had to be rewinded. The key to his invention was the balance spring that improved the accuracy of the spring drum clock work.

In the early days pocket watches or portable watches as they were called then were made of steel. Later steel was replaced by brass, silver and gold. As the locksmiths' and blacksmiths' (as the first watchmakers were called) perfected their fine work the minimalization or reduction in size of the stop watches were improved to 4-5 inches wide and 3 inches thick.

One of the major problems with these pocket watches in that era was the accuracy with which they give the time. The time would vary from watch maker to watch maker and this continued to occur up into the nineteenth century. The great train wreck of 1891 in Kipton, Ohio, caused nine causalities. The engineer's pocket watch stopped for four minutes and then started again. As a result two trains collided on the same track. The American Railroad Association then set high quality standards for pocket watches used in the railway system. Ergo, a pocket watch that met this standard had the distinction of being railroad approved. Some of the requirements were:

The rail road watch must have at least 15 jewels, this amount steadily increased after 1886.

It must be accurate within 30 seconds per week.

It must have a white face, although silver face ones were allowed until the second decade of the 20^th century.

It must have black Arabic numbers with each minute delineated. Canadian railroad watches had Roman numbers.

Size 16 or 18.

It must be adjusted to five positions and temperature compensated.

Engineers were required to have their watches inspected regularly and they had to submit a certificate to their supervisor regarding the reliability of their railroad watches.

In those early times the pocket watch was a true symbol of status, high society and wealth, only the rich were able to own one. During the 19^th century watchmakers like Heur, Ulyssr Nardin IWC and Minerva greatly made an impression on the improvement of pocket watches. In the 20^th century they became a fashion statement. In 1950 pocket watches lost their popularity and were upstaged by wrist watches.

Today there is renewed interest in pocket watches, they are being sought out as collectors' items and are sometimes worn with zoot suits. "The Waltham pocket watches are highly favored as collectables because there were few of these models made.

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