Sep 08 2008
Is the Pocket Watch only Bought as a Memento Nowadays?
From the very earliest days when people first began to keep track of time, the pocket watch has survived and it is an item that is still much sought after today though only for the sake of reminding one of times gone by. Of course it came after sundials, water clocks and even candle clocks, but these have slumped into obscurity and no one remembers them because they never survived once the more popular pocket watches began to be used by one and all.
Rich And Wealthy
The earliest pocket watches were of course only affordable to the rich and wealthy and owning one actually came to signify social standing and authority as well as was a symbol of wealth. It was in fact, only during the sixteenth century that the pocket watch first made its appearance and it was revolutionary in that it could be transported on the person and was not the immovable timepiece that was the norm up until this new kind of watch hit the market.
It was normal to wear the pocket watch on a pendant that was hung around a person’s neck and after Charles II came out with the waistcoat with pockets, these watches then began to be carried in the pockets of the waistcoats. It was at this time too that another revolution in timekeeping was taking place and so, these watches were able to give more accurate time and some of them even had an alarm.
In the seventeenth century, the pocket watch grew to become more attractive and it began to be made in slimmer as well as rounded cases that replaced the earlier box shapes, and new designs too began to be incorporated. The discovery of the laws of pendulum improved the working of the pocket watch even more and by the eighteenth century they had reached a peak in their development.
Jewels were added and diamonds too formed an integral part of the pocket watch and so these timepieces became more expensive and even oil came to be used for the purpose of lubricating as well as smoothening the watch’s hand movements.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, pocket watches came to have three hands and they began to tell seconds and were therefore more accurate. The peak time as far as the pocket watch is concerned happened in the nineteenth century which is when several big name watchmakers began manufacturing these watches and made them more precise and in fact, in the twentieth century these watchmakers were even given certificates testifying to their ability to manufacture very precise timepieces.
Today, there are different types of watches being bought by the public and among them are the Swiss watches that are renowned worldwide for being very accurate and precise. The advent of the wrist watch put paid to the pocket watch which is now only being bought as a memento of times gone by.