Wristwatches : A brief history of this serious and fascinating craft

The first portable timpieces came about around the year 1500 when the use of the mainspring was developed. This mainspring replaced a weight in timepieces, and hence, the first portable watches were created and worn on chains around the neck, they were the first pocket watches. But when did the first wristwatches emerge? The first ones actually appeared in the early 19th century, but they were not mass-produced for another hundred years.

In era after the Great War, an era of advancing aviation technology, the need for a kind of aviation "chronometer" led to the development of the first ones, these were mainly designed to aid in navigating the skies.

It is debated on which company created the "first." Louis Cartier (1875-1942) has been credited for creating the first man's wristwatch in 1904, when he designed a watch for his friend and client, Alberto Santos-Dumont. Santos-Dumont was one of the early pioneers of aviation, and he needed a more suitable timepiece for his dare devil flights. He asked Cartier to design something for him, and thus the "Santos" was born, although it did not go on sale until 1911. By that date Louis Cartier had begun the exclusive production of the first wristwatches at his establishment in Paris on the Rue de la Paix.

Another among the first to sell them to the public was Omega, they released the Lépine movement, gents' 15''' in 1902 and ladies' 12''' calibres in 1910, with stem and winding crown at 9 o'clock: these new "wrist" watches were frequently worn on the right wrist when they first came out.

Swiss company EBEL introduced its first wristwatches within a year of the start of its business and in 1914 produced a comprehensive watch collection for the Swiss National Exhibition, including wristwatches, pendant-watches and ring-watches. Zenith followed soonafter with their development of them in 1915, and many more. Now we have a vast sea of watch designs and innovations to choose from.

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Pocket Watches | Men's Watches | Women's Watches