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 everyone has. Meanwhile, the wrist watch is no longer only a tool 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 constructed 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 increasingly smaller space, the required 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 wristwatch from Japan

A completely different wrist watch came onto the market in the 1970’s from Japan, which had built its own watch industry. The new wrist watch 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 small 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

Nowadays, the wrist watch is no longer just a watch. The wristwatch has turn into a fashion accessory. Wrist watches come in all colours and shapes thinkable. One can also get compatible watches from all fashion collection. The current watches are dominated by the correct fashion trends. Despite these various trends, there is something for every taste. The tiny watches, which need glasses to tell the time, and the extraordinary huge watches, which make it hard to walk upright. Anyway, one thing is certain: 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.