The Wrist Watch – A Closer Look

In today’s world the wrist watch is a common item. Most people own one, and many own entire collections of what was once just a timepiece. In our world of technology, and business, the wrist watch has become so much more than it once was. It can be considered a status symbol, a fashion statement, and there are even multifunctional wrist watches that double as a PDA.

What if I told you that this popularity wasn’t always the case? What if I then told you that, 100 years ago, most men would rather wear a dress than a wrist watch (or wristlet as they were called then)?

Let’s take a brief look at the rise of the wrist watch.

Before the turn of the 19th century, the wrist watch wasn’t a common item. They were fairly new, and then they were called wristlets. By men (and even by the watchmakers) they were considered to be a passing fad for women. Real men carried pocket watches, and no self-respecting gentleman would be caught dead wearing a wrist watch.

From the watchmaker’s perspective, these tiny timepieces were too small. It was believed that they would never be able to attain the degree of accuracy that was seen in larger timepieces of the era.

A few technological advancements in the late 1800’s allowed the wrist watch to become more accurate, and it was actually the onset of war that made the wrist watch a popular item.

In the Anglo-Boer war the British were outnumbered. With recent advancements in weaponry, a new level of precision was required to coordinate their attacks. They achieved this with a makeshift version of the wrist watch. The common watch further gained in popularity as a military tool in WWI. Again the troops were fitted with wrist watches to tell time, and coordinate their efforts.

After the World War I, the wrist watch began to grow in popularity. Of course that popularity has continued to grow right through to today.

The next time you look at your watch, you may see it as a status symbol, or maybe yours is a tool that helps you with your favourite sport, but now you know that it wasn’t always so.