Do you ever wonder how the wrist watch started? They actually began their existence in Europe in the 16th century! They were in between the size of a clock and a modern day watch. People would fasten the watches to their clothing or wear them on a chain around their neck. The watches were box shaped and engraved for style. They only had the hour hand. It did not have a glass cover, but instead a hinged brass cover. Often they would decorate the brass cover with holes so that they could tell the time without having to open the watch. The watch would have to be wound about twice a day! The purpose of these early watches was not to tell time necessarily because the accuracy was terrible and there were hours of the day in which the watch was completely useless! These watches were actually made for jewelry and novelties for the nobility.
The pocket watch came around in the 17th century after the waistcoat was introduced. Women, however, still wore their watches and pendants. Accuracy was still an issue with the early pocket watches because their force was provided by a spring, which was not constant.
The electric watch came out in the mid 1900’s. This is when people began decorating their watches with jewels!
The quartz watch came out in 1969. This was revolutionary because this changed our watches to tick in a second! The accuracy was great but the power did not last long.
In 1990 Junghans came out with a radio-controlled wristwatch. So now our watches automatically find what time it is according to the radio time signals!
So.. wrist watches have defiantly come a long way! However, I still think most people still use them more for jewelry than to tell time. ;)
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