chronological recall
The first example of a timing device carried on the arm was a gift made to Queen Elizabeth in 1571.
there are traces of small ornate clocks that have been mounted on bracelets dating from 1790. The manufacture of these small clocks continued until the early 1800s of the masters of the watchrs like Patek Philippe and Abraham-Louis Breguet.
They designed watches and mechanical calendars intended for women of Upper Bourgeoisie. Indeed, at that time, men still consider the wrist watches as watches lower than pocket watches, claiming that they were subject to damage and rust, and that the watch mechanics were Not precise enough to keep the exact time.
the bracelet, a military invention
As the 19th century advanced, watches became much cheaper to produce and, as the value of coordinated military maneuvers became more and more precise, it became more and more important Participate in their boom. It is in this sense that their popularity has increased.
However, on the Battlefield , it is pocket watches that always predominate and many soldiers are starting to find that it is difficult Check the time on a pocket while you have to control a horse or handle a rifle.
Just before the turn of the century, patents were deposited for a type of leather bracelet with a cut in the center designed to hold a pocket watch in place around its wrist. Which is technically not a wristwatch, but a pocket watch you have on your wrist.
The leather pocket rack was becoming more and more popular among the soldiers. Men and, to a lesser extent, civil women, he is known to support what will now be called the countrywide.
Watch bracelet Waltham dating from the First World War.
This campaign watch was widely used during second Boers war . Between the British and the descendants of the South African Dutch settlers. The Boers used to hunt and go horse riding in their region. The local land and their escape tactics therefore forced British officers to coordinate perfectly timed attacks to win the element of surprise.
The
Boer family in 1886
During the First World War, the war of the trenches made it possible to coordinate the troops at the heart of the fights. The British generals have given orders of places far from front lines, so that the calendar and the clarity of the orders were essential to the success of the operations.
a tactic called rolling barrage required a Group of infantrymen to advance just behind increasingly distant artillery fire. The choice of the moment was a question of life or death and it has become more and more important every day to have watches that can be read quickly and easily.
towards the end of the war, the wristwatches become specially designed for the fixing of leather bracelets, called 'lugs'. Civil watches then begin to be the subject of advertising and to be manufactured. Many of the English clocks were not ready to go from the manufacture of pocket watches and started to fight but to wither, unable to resist the movement put in place.
The Swiss manufacturers who made fine movements have Find that it was easier to go to small wristwatches and overshadowed the British watch industry.
a movement of manners
The metal reinforced trench watch has also been developed to give soldiers a more robust timepiece made of a glass-resistant glass or a eclates, which is a metal cage that protected the face of The watch while allowing reading the time.
Having a reliable watch on the wrist has become a necessity for officers and a useful tool for each soldier. The wristwatch had therefore become an essential male tool for the soldier and subsequently popularized with virile civilians.
The American soldiers were surprised to see the British troops carrying the watches effeminate, which was not a foreign concept but certainly an unpopular thing for the Americans of the time. Nevertheless, the American soldiers quickly converted and gradually extended the practice to their home.
The pocket watches were still used in the 1920s.