Evolution of Watches

Evolution of VO WATCHES | 12 BR Pocket Watch 12/ Up until the early 1900s, pocket watches ruled the day for men's timekeeping fashion. These were worn on a chain in a pocket, either in a vest or trousers. It was considered “sissy" for men to wear watches on their wrists. Bella Ross 3- Brought to you by www.rsdwatches.com < Wrist Watch However, in 1904 Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos Dumont collaborated with his friend Louis Cartier, the famous French watchmaker, to design and create a timepiece for the wrist that could be easily read while flying. Something that wasn't so clunky and awkward as a pocket watch which Dumont hated to keep having to pull out of his pocket in flight. Thus the Cartier "Santos" was born, and the official birth of a new era in timepiece design: the wristwatch. 12 Bet Ross 3- The Round Shape Things moved forward rather predictably in wristwatch design.... since the mechanical movements were mostly round miniature pocket watch movements, this movement shape dictated the case design..."form follows function": the mantra of the Art Deco era in the 1920's. 12 3. The wristwatch really caught on during WI (circa 1917) where the soldiers had the same needs, that is a convenient timekeeping apparatus that didn't need to be pulled out of a pocket during stressful action times. BR K Other Shapes But, innovators like the Gruen watch company, and Bulova Watch Company, began to design and engineer rectangular shaped mechanical movements, thus opening up more design avenues for square and rectangular shaped watches. For the next 30 or 40 years the watch industry made their collective living off wristwatches in the round, square, and rectangular variations of this design theme. Interestingly, from a modern point of view, these watches seem “tiny". The round shapes were around 28 to 32mm, and the rectangular and squares were in the 26 to 29mm average range. `12 BellRoss 6. The Diamond Watch Finally, it became not only convenient, but more importantly, fashionable, for men to wear something on their wrists. As men's fashion taste became more exquisite, requiring a watch that says a bolder statement, the most exquisite watches were made, the diamond watches. 12 Bell Ross BR 03-92 ...!.