The dawn of wristwatches

The dawn of wrist-watchmaking came at the beginning of the 20th century. Pocket watches were becoming smaller and slimmer, and despite the primitive technology for design and manufacture compared to what exists today, extraordinary watches were being made, in terms of both dimension and complexity.

How the first of these watches became, in essence, a wristwatch will remain a mystery although numerous brands suggest they were the first to invent the wristwatch. It was most likely a natural development from a person having the idea to take a fob watch, and adapt it to be worn on the wrist or a jeweller inspired to take a timepiece and integrate it into a piece of ladies jewellery worn on the arm.

Early wristwatches were sometimes executed with simple bars soldered onto the case so that a leather strap could be attached. Whatever the reality was, the early 20th century witnessed the birth and development of the wristwatch.

Over the next 50 years following the turn of the 20th century, the miniaturisation of watch mechanics changed, and mechanical and aesthetic examples that were firsts of their kind emerged, and were genuinely 'Original'. Wristwatches were, in essence, a revolution in horology as significant as the progression from silent movies to sound, and as the turret clock to the pocket watch.

Mechanically, movements were made to follow the shapes of these new creations; some early ladies watches made by Cartier had movements that were in tiny olive forms, with the balance wheel visible in the lower half of the dial. Jaeger-LeCoultre made a series of small rectangular movements that were wound from the back of the watch; these were extraordinary developments compared to previous generations of movements.

The developments of the first half of the 20th century resulted in mechanical works of art that influenced the direction taken by many of the most recognised brands, and the industry as a whole, for the next 60 years. The original Reverso, Tank, Oyster, Curvex, and Calatrava paved the way for the future.

Although Rolex are most widely known for and associated with the Oyster, they produced an incredible diversity of models in their early years, including designs that were octagonal, square, cushioned, and curved, models like the Prince, Princess, and the Bubbleback. The same can be said for Patek, Omega, Vacheron, and many other important players. This was a time of experimentation in design, the likes of which will probably never be equalled in the same way again.

Images are supplied courtesy of Christies auction house. The circa dates are associated to the date of original production of each model, not the specific watch shown.