CategoriesJewelry and Fashion Object Types
Watches
Portable timepieces, from early pocket watches and complicated movements to wristwatches built for flight, diving and space.
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About
Watches appeared in 16th-century Germany as small spring-driven clocks worn on chains. Christiaan Huygens's balance spring, introduced in 1675, made them far more accurate, and in Paris Abraham-Louis Breguet refined the movement with innovations including the tourbillon, patented in 1801. For centuries men carried pocket watches while women wore small wrist pieces as jewellery.
The wristwatch took over in the early 20th century. Cartier made the square Santos for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904, soldiers in the First World War adopted wrist-worn watches, and Rolex's Oyster case (1926) kept out water and dust. Omega's Speedmaster went to the Moon in 1969, the year Heuer launched the square Monaco chronograph, and in 1972 Gérald Genta's octagonal Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet made steel a luxury material. Look at the movement, the case, the dial and matching serial numbers.
