Evolution of the watch : Het Vyas- 22BDC013

 

    

     DAILY OBJECT: WRIST WATCH

The object that I have decided to do a deep dive of is my wrist watch. 

Whether as a statement piece or a necessity , everybody likes to dawn what we call a wrist watch or rather SMART WATCH nowadays but "how did it reach to this stage?" 

This is an important question cause wrist watches weren't created in a day. It took several centuries to reach the stage it is at now.

Knowing the time on the go was a big deal when, thanks to the invention of the mainspring in the 15th century, the first pocket watches were created. However, don't assume that early pocket watches were either accessible or particularly useful; accuracy could mean being off by more than half an hour per day, and most lacked a minute hand.

In a brief history of clock making, the first mechanical clock was invented in 1275 England at the Salisbury Cathedral as a minute-repeater with no dial. Italy quickly followed after with three new clocks: an astronomical clock, an hourly chime, and a more comprehensive version that tracked the hours, dawn, and days of the month.

In the 13th and 1400s, blacksmiths with the ability to bend and form iron built the first clocks. They designed bells that could be heard throughout a house or town and did not require a dial to read the time. The earliest pocket watch was referred to as a "pocket clock" in 1462.

Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the wristwatch in 1810 for the Queen of Naples as a 'oblong shaped-repeater for wristlet.' This evolution resulted in Breguet's modern model, the Reine De Naples.

Countess Koscowicz of Hungary also had a bracelet watch made in 1868, this time by the well-known manufacturer Patek Philippe.Women were more likely to wear wristlet watches because being on the wrist exposed the watch to the elements, which was another reason men wore pocket watches.

To better understand the stages of evolution that the wristwatch went through from being a pocket watch to a smartwatch here is a timeline :

The pocket watch becomes more precise (18th century)

The regulation system of a timepiece is both its heart and brain: it is where its accuracy is measured. Consider it a brake, slowly and consistently moving power from the tightly wound spring that holds the power and the gear that moves the hands. Timepieces were finally useful for science and navigation thanks to the balance wheel and modern escapement.

The pocket watch evolves into a true gadget (18th century)

When watches mastered timekeeping, they were able to do a lot more things related to timekeeping. Pocket watches designed by brilliant minds, like all the best gadgets, included additional features such as calendars, stopwatches, multiple time zone displays, and astronomical indicators. All in the name of science - and luxury, given that these items were typically reserved for the very wealthy.

Pocket watches move to the wrist(1910s)

The first person to wear a watch on their wrist is unknown, however it is believed to have happened around the turn of the 20th century. The desire for hands-free watches was shared by pilots and drivers, even if at the time this was regarded as feminine. Soldiers started modifying pocket watches with straps during World War I, and soon after, the men's wristwatch was actually invented.

Wrist watches become water and dust resistant(1926)

Although early wristwatches were somewhat frail, they had to withstand much more shock, moisture, and dust than pocket watches. Most early attempts to seal watch casings failed because they lacked rubber gaskets. When Rolex released the Oyster, a watch with a screw-down case back, crown, and crystal, they popularized the term "water resistant."

Electronic watches are born(circa 1960)

Electronic timekeeping completely revolutionized science, and by 1957, when Hamilton unveiled the first Ventura, it had made its way into wristwatches. Tuning forks that were powered by batteries were used in the earliest electronic timepieces, such as the Accutron range from Bulova. Later, electronic watches powered by forked quartz crystals had even more accuracy and battery longevity.

Quartz watches enable cheap, ultra-accurate timekeeping(circa 1970)

The early wristwatches with quartz movements were both rare and quite expensive. The electronic revolution, which ultimately proved to be a disruptive force that nearly brought down the mechanical watch industry, divided the entrenched Swiss watchmaking elite on the topic of the future of watchmaking. Cheap quartz timepieces had become very popular by the beginning of the 1980s.

Computers and clocks combine: The calculator watch is born(circa 1980)

Seiko, Hewlett-Packard, and eventually Casio all backed what may be regarded as the first smartwatches. Simple by today's standards, timepieces with built-in calculators that came with a stylus pointer to press the tiny buttons started to appear in the late 1970s. They were the pinnacle of geek chic for a while, desired by the technical elite.

The connected watch is born, later dies: The SPOT watch (1990s)

Since the early 20th century, connected timepieces that provided important information have been imagined in popular culture, but it wasn't until the advent of smartphones that these watches became a reality. For a small monthly fee, the first SPOT watches could provide information like news, weather, stock prices, and sports scores via radio signals.

The connected watch is reborn (2010s)

A new era of watchmaking is beginning as more people opt to check their all-knowing smartphones instead of the conventional watch. The so-called "smartwatch" is made feasible by communication channels like WiFi and Bluetooth, which send notifications and real-time data directly to users' wrists. Smartwatches that work in tandem with other gadgets are still constrained by battery life and software options, but they should nonetheless revitalize the modest watch for a generation that has, up until now, lost the need to wear one.

As it stands now watches are now getting smarter by the minute. It can measure your heart rate, your blood pressure, the amount of steps you take in a day or the amount of calories you burn in a particular day .  From just being a function piece the watch has sure come a long way to being revolutionized with screens and chipsets more powerful than many early super computers. And whether one finds the smartwatch a good step in evolution or not , one has to admit that it has made wristwatch a fashion statement piece. 

CITATIONS:

https://jackmasonbrand.com/blogs/news/when-were-watches-invented

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_watches

https://prisma.watch/watches/history/

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/evolution-of-wrist-watches

THANK YOU

 NAME: HET VYAS

 R.NO: 22bdc013