Pocket Watches/ Chains/ Fobs

A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) usually is a strapless personal timepiece that is carried in a pocket. The display is traditionally analog. more...

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Pocket watches generally have a chain to be secured to a waistcoat, lapel, or belt loop (the chain or ornaments on it being known as fobs), as well as a hinged cover to protect the face of the watch. Such covers are not always present. Also common are fasteners designed to be put through a buttonhole and worn in a jacket or waistcoat, this sort being frequently associated with and named after train conductors.

An early reference to the pocket watch is in a letter in November 1462 from the Italian clockmaker Bartholomew Manfredi to the Marchese di Manta, where he offers him a 'pocket clock' better than that belonging to the Duke of Modena. By the end of the 15th Century, spring-driven clocks appeared in Italy, and in Germany, Peter Henlein (a master locksmith of Nuremberg) was regularly manufacturing pocket watches by 1510. Thereafter, pocket watch manufacture spread throughout the rest of Europe as the 16th Century progressed.

Overview

Pocket watches are commonly regarded as being one of two types: the open faced; or so-called hunter cased (also called savonette from the French). The latter has a hinged front cover that protects the face and crystal of the watch.

Since the separate dial that marks the passage of seconds is traditionally placed closest to the six o'clock position, this means usually the stem (or pendant) of an open faced pocket watch is set at its twelve o'clock position. The hunter's stem is placed most commonly at the three o'clock position. When read, a the open faced is held with the stem straight up and a hunter is read by turning the watch 90° with the stem pointing to the right.

Modern manufacturers of pocket watches, especially those watches with a quartz movement, are not bound by tradition when regarding the orientation of movements and the cases they are inserted into (open-faced or hunter).

Early pocket watches

The watch was first created in the 16th century when the spring driven clock was invented. These watches were at first quite big and boxy and were worn around the neck. It was not for another century that it became common to wear a watch in a pocket.

Use in railroading in the United States

See main article: Railroad chronometers

The rise of railroading during the last half of the 19th century led to the widespread use of pocket watches. Because of the likelihood of train wrecks and other accidents if all railroad workers did not accurately know the current time, pocket watches became required equipment for all railroad workers.

Read more at Wikipedia.org