Old Pocket Watches
You like vintage watches and more precisely, pocket watches? You want to know more about them? What they are called, how they work and what they have become nowadays ?
Then welcome to Vintage Pocket Watch ! We are passionate about this 5 centuries old timepiece and its world. In doing so, we have helped many customers choose the pocket watch that best suits their needs and, most importantly, their style!
Since its inception, the pocket watch has always been an integral part of the watchmaking world and in fact, without it, nothing would have been possible!
We owe this masterpiece to the famous watchmaker Peter Henlein. Indeed, it was he who created the first portable watch (the ancestor of the pocket watch) in the 16th century (1505) and named it the pomander watch.
At that time, all watches were worn around the neck (as a fashion accessory) and operated with a mechanical movement with manual winding, via a small winding key. At the beginning, they were all made in a round shape and it is with time that they were refined to have the shape we know today.
As mentioned above, the first mechanical pocket watches were powered by a hand-wound movement, via a small winding key and had a power reserve of about 12:00.
It was in 1777 that the automatic watch was born. It works exactly like its predecessor with the only difference that it is automatic. Watches with this type of movement were called shaking watches, because they worked thanks to the shaking caused by the steps of their wearers.
In the past, pocket watches were considered as real fashion accessories and were decorated with precious stones (diamonds, sapphires, rubies), engravings, etc...!
Unfortunately, it was during the twentieth century, when the First World War appeared, the pocket clock gave way to the wristwatch.
Why?
Simply because the soldiers needed to have quick access to the time, which was not obvious with a pocket watch or a pendant watch! But rest assured, recently, the old watch that we love so much has not fallen into oblivion and is slowly coming back into fashion!
Then welcome to Vintage Pocket Watch ! We are passionate about this 5 centuries old timepiece and its world. In doing so, we have helped many customers choose the pocket watch that best suits their needs and, most importantly, their style!
The history of Old Pocket Watches
Since its inception, the pocket watch has always been an integral part of the watchmaking world and in fact, without it, nothing would have been possible!
We owe this masterpiece to the famous watchmaker Peter Henlein. Indeed, it was he who created the first portable watch (the ancestor of the pocket watch) in the 16th century (1505) and named it the pomander watch.
At that time, all watches were worn around the neck (as a fashion accessory) and operated with a mechanical movement with manual winding, via a small winding key. At the beginning, they were all made in a round shape and it is with time that they were refined to have the shape we know today.
How does the Old Pocket Watches work ?
As mentioned above, the first mechanical pocket watches were powered by a hand-wound movement, via a small winding key and had a power reserve of about 12:00.
It was in 1777 that the automatic watch was born. It works exactly like its predecessor with the only difference that it is automatic. Watches with this type of movement were called shaking watches, because they worked thanks to the shaking caused by the steps of their wearers.
Why wear an Old Pocket Watches in the 21st century ?
In the past, pocket watches were considered as real fashion accessories and were decorated with precious stones (diamonds, sapphires, rubies), engravings, etc...!
Unfortunately, it was during the twentieth century, when the First World War appeared, the pocket clock gave way to the wristwatch.
Why?
Simply because the soldiers needed to have quick access to the time, which was not obvious with a pocket watch or a pendant watch! But rest assured, recently, the old watch that we love so much has not fallen into oblivion and is slowly coming back into fashion!
