Pocket watch

A watch is a small portable clock that displays the current time and sometimes the current day, date, month and year. In modern times they are usually worn on the wrist, although before the 20th century most were pocket watches, which had covers and were carried separately, often in a pocket, and hooked to a watch chain. From pixelquelle. ... From pixelquelle. ... A clock (from the Latin cloca, bell) is an instrument for measuring time. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Notable Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... A day is any of several different units of time. ... Datateknologerna vid Åbo Akademi r. ... In Egyptian mythology, Month is an alternate spelling for Menthu. ... A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ... In human anatomy, the wrist is the flexible and narrower connection between the forearm and the hand. ...

Current watches are often digital watches, using a piezoelectric crystal, usually quartz, as an oscillator (see quartz clock). Piezoelectricity is the ability of certain crystals to produce a voltage when subjected to mechanical stress. ... For other uses of this word, see Quartz (disambiguation). ... A crystal oscillator is an electronic device that uses the mechanical resonance of a physical crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise frequency. ... A quartz clock is a timepiece that uses an electronic oscillator and a quartz crystal to keep precise time. ...

In earlier times mechanical timepieces were used, powered by a spring wound regularly by the user. The invention of "Automatic" or "Self-Winding" watches allowed for a constant winding without special action from the wearer: it works by an irregular weight, called a winding rotor, that rotates to the movement of the wearer's body, automatically winding the watch. A helical or coil spring. ...

Watches may be collectible; they are often made of precious metals, and can be considered an article of jewelry. A collectible (or collectable) is a manufactured item designed for people to collect. ... Jewellery (spelled jewelry in American English) consists of ornamental devices worn by persons, typically made with gems and precious metals. ...

Types of watch

Pocket Clock

The first necessity for portability in time keeping was navigation and mapping in the 15th century. The latitude could be measured by looking at the stars, but the only way a ship could measure its longitude was by comparing timezones; by comparing the midday time of the local longitude to a European meridian (usually Paris or Greenwich), a sailor could know how far he was from home. However, the process was notoriously unreliable until the introduction of John Harrison's chronometer. For that reason, most maps from the 15th century to c.1800 have precise latitudes but distorted longitudes. This article concerns navigation in the sense of determination of position and direction on the surface of the Earth. ... The word mapping has several senses: In mathematics and related technical fields, it is some kind of function: see map (mathematics). ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Latitude, denoted φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... Map of Earth showing curved lines of longitude Longitude, sometimes denoted λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... Meridian is: Meridian (astronomy): an imaginary circle perpendicular to the horizon. ... This page is about Greenwich in England. ... For the recipients of the Victoria Cross, see either John Harrison (VC 1857) or John Harrison (VC 1917) See also the author M. John Harrison John Harrison. ... A chronometer is a clock designed to have sufficient long-term accuracy that it can be used as a portable time standard on a vehicle, usually in order to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. ...

The first mechanical clocks measured time with weighted pendulums, which are useless at sea or in watches. The invention of a spring mechanism was crucial for portable clocks. In Tudor England, the development of "pocket-clockes" was enabled through the development of reliable springs and escapement mechanisms, which allowed clockmakers to compress a timekeeping device into a small, portable compartment. It is rumoured that Henry VIII (the portrait of Henry VIII at this link shows the medallion thought to be the back of his watch) had a pocket clock which he kept on a chain around his neck. However, these watches only had an hour hand - a minute hand would have been useless considering the inaccuracy of the watch mechanism. Eventually, miniaturization of these spring-based designs allowed for accurate portable timepieces which worked well even at sea. Aaron Lufkin Dennison founded Waltham Watch Company in 1850, which was the pioneer of the industrial manufacturing by interchangeable parts, the American System of Watch Manufacturing. A gravity pendulum is a weight on the end of a rigid rod, which, when given some initial lift from the vertical position, will swing back and forth under the influence of gravity over its central (lowest) point. ... The period of English history known as the Tudor period normally refers to the period of time between 1485 and 1603 when the Tudor dynasty (Welsh Twdwr) held the English throne. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... A simple escapement. ... Henry VIII King of England and Ireland by Hans Holbein the Younger His Grace King Henry VIII (28 June 1491–28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Aaron Lufkin Dennison (March 6, 1812- January 9, 1895) was an American watchmaker born in Freeport, Maine. ... In 1850, Roxbury Massachusetts, David Davis, Edward Howard and Aaron Lufkin Dennison formed together the company that would later become the American Waltham Watch Company. ... Events January 4 - The first American ice-skating club is formed (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). ... Aaron Lufkin Dennison was inspired by the manufacturing techniques of the United States Armory at Springfield, Mass. ...

Wrist Watch

Breitling Navitimer Montbrillant, a typical pilot watch. Quantum on hand, day of the week, month, sliding rule, chronograph certified.

The wristwatch was invented by Patek Philippe at the end of the 19th century. It was however considered a woman's accessory. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont, who had difficulty checking the time while in his first aircraft (Dumont was working on the invention of the aeroplane), asked his friend Louis Cartier for a watch he could use more easily. Cartier gave him a leather-band wristwatch from which Dumont never separated. Being a popular figure in Paris, Cartier was soon able to sell these watches to other men. During the First World War, officers in all armies soon discovered that in battlefield situations, quickly glancing at a watch on their wrist was far more convenient than fumbling in their jacket pockets for an old-fashioned pocket watch. In addition, as increasing numbers of officers were killed in the early stages of the war, NCOs promoted to replace them often did not have pocket watches (traditionally a middle-class item out of the reach of ordinary working-class soldiers), and so relied on the army to provide them with timekeepers. As the scale of battles increased, artillery and infantry officers were required to synchronise watches in order to conduct attacks at precise moments, whilst artillery officers were in need of a large number of accurate timekeepers for rangefinding and gunnery. Army contractors began to issue reliable, cheap, mass-produced wristwatches which were ideal for these purposes. When the war ended, demobilised European and American officers were allowed to keep their wristwatches, helping to popularise the items amongst middle-class Western civilian culture. Today, nearly every Westerner wears a watch on his wrist, a direct result of the First World War. Breitling Montbrillant File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Breitling Montbrillant File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Swiss watches from the Canton of Jura. ... A quantum is the smallest increment into which many physical properties are subdivided. ... A day is any of several different units of time. ... A week is a unit of time longer than a day and shorter than a month. ... In Egyptian mythology, Month is an alternate spelling for Menthu. ... A stopwatch is a timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated and when the piece is deactivated. ... Patek Philippe & Co. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The Federative Republic of Brazil (República Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America, and fifth largest in the world. ... Santos-Dumont in his trademark Panama hat. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... NCO may mean: a numerically-controlled oscillator in electronics a non-commissioned officer in the military   This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Infantry in the First World War Infantry (or Infantrymen) are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, using personal weapons. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Complicated Watch

A complicated watch has one or more functionalities beyond basic time-keeping capabilities; such a functionality is called a complication. Two popular complications are the chronograph complication, which is the ability of the watch movement to function as a stopwatch, and the moonphase complication, which is a display of the lunar phase. Among watch enthusiasts, complicated watches are especially collectible. A stopwatch is a timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated and when the piece is deactivated. ... In astronomy, a phase of the Moon is any of the aspects or appearances presented by the Moon as seen from Earth, determined by the portion of the Moon that is visibly illuminated by the Sun. ...

Chronographs and chronometers

The similar-sounding terms chronograph and chronometer are often confused, although they mean altogether different things. A chronograph is a type of complication, as explained under the heading "Complicated Watch." A chronometer is a watch or clock whose movement has been tested and certified to operate within a certain standard of accuracy. The concepts are different but not mutually exclusive; a watch can be a chronograph, a chronometer, both, or neither. A chronometer is a clock designed to have sufficient long-term accuracy that it can be used as a portable time standard on a vehicle, usually in order to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. ...

Electromechanical watches

The first use of electrical power in watches was as a source of energy to replace the mainspring, and therefore to remove the need for winding. The first battery-powered watch, the Hamilton Electric 500, was released in 1957 by the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Lancaster is a city located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. ...

Quartz analogue watch

The quartz analogue watch is an electronic watch that uses a piezoelectric quartz crystal as its timing element, coupled to a mechanical movement that drives the hands. The first prototypes were made by the CEH research laboratory in Switzerland in 1962. The first quartz watch to enter production was the Seiko 35 SQ Astron, which appeared in 1969. There are also several variations of the quartz watch as to what actually powers the movement. There are solar powered, kinetically powered, and battery powered. Solar powered quartz watches are powered by available light. Kinetic powered quartz watches are powered by the motion of the wearer's arm turning a rotating weight, which in turn, turns a generator to supply power. The third and most common power source is the battery. Watch batteries come in many forms, the most common of which are silver oxide and lithium. Piezoelectricity is the ability of certain crystals to produce a voltage when subjected to mechanical stress. ... A Seiko watch Seiko is a Japanese watch company. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

Digital Watches

Cheaper electronics permitted the popularisation of the digital watch (an electronic watch with a numerical, rather than analogue, display) in the second half of the 20th century. They were seen as the great new thing. Douglas Adams, in the introduction of his novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, would say that humans were 'so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea'. Douglas Noel Adams (March 11, 1952 – May 11, 2001) — also known as Bop Ad or Bob after his illegible signature, or by his initials DNA — was a British comic radio dramatist and author, most notably of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (HHGG or H2G2). ... The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy originated as a 1978 radio comedy series written by Douglas Adams. ...

The first digital watch, a Pulsar prototype in 1970, was developed jointly by Hamilton Watch Company and Electro-Data. A retail version of the Pulsar was put on sale in 1972 It had a red light-emitting diode (LED) display. LED displays were soon superseded by liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which used less battery power. The first LCD watch with a six-digit LCD was the 1973 Seiko 06LC, although various forms of early LCD watches with a four-digit display were marketed as early as 1972 including the 1972 Gruen Teletime LCD Watch [1]  (http://www.ledwatches.net/photo-pages/gruen-teletime-lcd.htm), [2] (http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/magicalgadget/index3.html#teletime). 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Various light-emitting diodes (5 mm reds, 3 mm greens and yellows) A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits incoherent monochromatic light when electrically biased in the forward direction. ... LCD redirects here. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

In addition to the function of a timepiece, digital watches can have additional functions like a chronograph, calculator, video game etc. A stopwatch is a timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated and when the piece is deactivated. ... Calculator - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...

Digital watches have not yet replaced analog watches, despite their greater reliability and lower cost. In fact, because digital watches are so cheap, analog watches are often worn as status symbols. For others, analog watches are just easier to read.

Fashionable Watches

At the end of the 20th century, Swiss watch makers were seeing their sales go down as analog clocks were considered obsolete. They joined forces with designers from many countries to reinvent the Swiss watch.

The result was that they could considerably reduce the pieces and production time of an analog watch. In fact it was so cheap that if a watch broke it would be cheaper to throw it away and buy a new one than to repair it. They founded the Swiss Watch company (Swatch) and called graphic designers to redesign a new annual collection. See also: swatch (disambig) The Swatch Group Ltd. ... Swatch is a brand of low-level quartz watch owned by the The Swatch Group Ltd. ...

This is often used as a case study in design schools to demonstrate the commercial potential of industrial and graphic design.

Advanced watches

As miniaturized electronics become cheaper, more and more functionalities have been inserted into watches. Watches have been developed containing calculators, video games, digital cameras, keydrives, and cellular phones. In the early 1980s Seiko marketed a watch with a television receiver in it, although at the time television receivers were too bulky to fit in a wristwatch, and the actual receiver and its power source were in a book-sized box with a cable that ran to the wristwatch. In the early 2000's, a self-contained wristwatch television receiver came on the market, with a strong enough power source to provide one hour of viewing. Calculator - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... A digital camera, as opposed to a film or video camera, uses an electronic sensor to transform images (or video) into electronic data. ... A USB keydrive, shown with a US quarter coin for scale. ... Cellular redirects here. ... A Seiko watch Seiko is a Japanese watch company. ...

Several companies have attempted to develop a computer contained in a WristWatch, including an IBM product that ran Linux and a Fossil product that ran PalmOS (see also wearable computer). As of 2004, the only programmable computer watch to have made it to market is the Seiko Ruputer, although many digital watches come with extremely sophisticated data management software built in. The tower of a personal computer (specifically a Power Mac G5). ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) (NYSE: IBM) (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... This article is about Linux-based operating systems, GNU/Linux, and related topics. ... FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL stands for Fido Opus SEAdog Standard Interface Layer and was made by a group of Fidonet sysops to make their software work on different machines. ... Palm OS is an operating system made by PalmSource, Inc. ... A wearable computer is a small portable computer that is designed to be worn on the body during use. ... The Ruputer was a wearable wristwatch-sized computer developed in 1998 by Seiko. ...

A recent development is the radio controlled wristwatch or as they are sometimes called "atomic watches". These wristwatches receive a radio signal from the National Institute of Standards and Technology located in Colorado in the United States. This radio signal tells the radio wristwatch exactly what time it is, precise to a fraction of a nanosecond. About 4 times per day a radio wristwatch will check this radio signal and reset itself to the exact time. It will also reset itself when daylight savings time changes. These watches always know what time it is. A nanosecond is an SI derived unit of time equal to 10-9 of a second. ...

Watchmakers

• A. Lange & Söhne
• Baume et Mercier
• Benrus
• Breguet
• Breitling
• Bulova
• Casio
• Citizen
• Chronoswiss
• Corum
• Delbana
• Diesel
• Ebel
• Elgin Watch Company
• Fossil
• Glashütte
• IWC - International Watch Co Schaffhausen
• Invicta Watch Group
• Jaeger Le Coultre
• Longines
• Marathon
• Matsucom
• Movado
• Oakley
• Omega
• Orient
• Oris
• Patek Philippe
• Raymond Weil
• Rolex
• Seiko
• Skagen
• Swatch
• TAG Heuer
• Timex
• Tissot
• Ulysse Nardin
• Vacheron Constantin
• Waltham International SA
• Zenith
• Zeno-Watch Basel

The name Breguet can represent: A former French aircraft manufacturer. ... Swiss watches from the Canton of Jura. ... Bulova is a New York based watch and clock maker corporation. ... Casio, Inc. ... orum is a town in the Corum Province of Turkey. ... The Elgin Watch Company (National Watch Company) was founded in 1864 . ... Fossil, Inc. ... International Watch Co, also known as IWC, is a watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland IWC is a watch connoiseurs brand for several reasons. ... Jaeger-LeCoultre is a watch and clock manufacturer based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. ... A marathon is an athletic event and the town in Greece (and site of a battle) for which the sport was named; the name of a village and a town in New York; the name of a place in Ontario; an island in the Florida Keys; until 1990, the name... Movado is a Swiss watch company, whose name is Esperanto for movement. The company is most renowned for their Museum watches that feature a black clock face with a single point at XII oclock. ... Oakley is an eyewear company, known mostly for their sunglasses and ski goggles. ... Omega is a watch company based in Biel/Bienne Switzerland and one of the most prestigious brand of timepieces. ... Orient Watch ORIENT Watch Co. ... Patek Philippe & Co. ... Rolex is the brand of Swiss wristwatches and accessories renowed for their quality, as well as their cost; they sell for several thousand dollars. ... A Seiko watch Seiko is a Japanese watch company. ... Swatch is a brand of low-level quartz watch owned by the The Swatch Group Ltd. ... TAG Heuer is a Swiss watchmaker known for manufacturing mid-range sports watches and chronographs for both men and women. ... Timex Corporation is the best-known American watch manufacturer, famous for half a century for durable low-cost timepieces. ... Vacheron Constantin is a swiss watch manufacturer. ... Waltham International SA was founded in 1954 in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the American Waltham Watch Company, Waltham, Mass, to provide the necessary watch and movement parts, which were not readily available in U.S.A. Now located in Marin-Epagnier/Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Waltham International SA manufacture Waltham luxury Swiss...

See also

• clock
• clockmaker
• horology
• jewel bearing
• watchmaker

A clock (from the Latin cloca, bell) is an instrument for measuring time. ... A clockmaker is one who primarily repairs clocks, although historically this person also made clocks. ... Horology is the science and study of timekeeping devices. ... This article or section should include material from Ruby jewel A jewel bearing is a bearing which allows motion by running a shaft slightly off-center so that the shaft rolls inside of the bearing rather than sliding. ... A watchmaker is one who primarily repairs watches, although historically this person also made watches. ...

External links

• American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute (http://www.awi-net.org/)
• How does a watch work? FH, Switzerland (http://www.fhs.ch/en/work.php?PHPSESSID=d511b5bcc901418d7deda2dfca988adf)
• Chronocentric: "The largest independent, non-commercial, consumer-oriented resource on the Internet for owners, collectors and enthusiasts of fine wristwatches." (http://chronocentric.com/)
• Mechanical Watch FAQ 1.0 from TimeZone.com (http://www.timezone.com/library/wwatchfaq/wwatchfaq631668591017665598)
• Mister Watch Online: Information on collectible watches. (http://www.misterwatchonline.com/)