From pocket watch to a fashion accessory. What was once, in the earliest years of portable watches, considered to be unsuitable for gentlemen and only for women, has developed nowadays into a fashion utensil that everybody has. In the meantime, the wristwatch is no longer only a instrument to tell the time. It is a designer piece and can indicate much more than the time.

A great deal of mechanics in a small housing

The first verifiable portable timepiece was made in 1500. This was not a wristwatch, but more of a pocket watch. Through technical progress, which made it possible for people to house mechanics in an progressively smaller space, the necessary pieces of the clockworks were able to be brought into a manageable form. In this way, the first pocket watch was born, which at the time was still the size of an egg.

The computerized wrist watch from Japan

A totally different wrist watch came onto the market in the 1970’s from Japan, which had developed its own watch industry. The new wristwatch from Japan was no more set on a mechanical basis, but on a computerized control. This watch expanded its range of capability quickly. The watch no longer just showed the time. The little timepiece on the wrist now also knew the date, the day of the week and even knew whether a leap year was involved.

The wristwatch as jewelry

Today, the wristwatch is much more than a watch. The wristwatch has become a fashion accessory. Wrist watches come in all colours and forms imaginable. One can also purchase compatible watches from every fashion collection. The current watches are dominated by the correct fashion trends. Despite these different styles, there is something for every taste. The small watches, which require spectacles to tell the time, and the extraordinary huge watches, which make it hard to walk upright. In any case, one thing is sure: science is still likely to make so much advance – that the wristwatch will be found on the wrists of people for a long time, to respond to the question as to what time it is.