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I'm Late,
I'm Late - Where Is My Watch Or Is It A Clock
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A watch or clock is a
timepiece that today sometimes displays the day, month and year. In
the beginning it to the form of a pocket watch because of its size.
It was Peter Henlein is credited for developing the first pocket
watch in Germany in 1524. Although other were produced in
1548, real production in Switzerland and England began after
1575. Most watches were pocket watches, which had covers and were carried separately, often in a pocket and attached to a watch chain or
fob which have become great collector items today.
It wasn't until the use of the spiral leaf mainspring appeared that
long time power without using weights as the first had used.
But because of the long and short arcs of the spring the accuracy of
the watch was poor. It wasn't until the French and English
began using the fusee which evens out the power of a clock spring
which stopped the watch during winding to prevent over oscillation of the balance wheel.
Form watches became popular in the 1600s, with cases shaped like animals and objects. Religious themes were especially popular. Although there were few technical improvements, watches became more like pieces of jewelry. It wasn't until 1704 that the first rubies were used in watch movements to create more accurate time pieces. By 1750, enamel was used on watch dials making them more visible in low light.
In 1884, Greenwich, England was named the zero meridian, a worldwide acceptance of a starting point for global time zones. After 1900, advances in metallurgy improved the mechanisms, primarily because the balance spring was sensitive to temperature and position. Self-compensating balances were made with bi-metallic properties to compensate for high and low
temperatures, and eventually a balance was created that could compensate for middle temperature errors.
In the 21st century, technological advances in metallurgy, composite materials development and physical vapor deposition greatly influence watch design and manufacturing. Solid stainless steel, titanium, tungsten carbide, carbon fiber, high-tech ceramic and ion plating processes dominate a considerable market share of today's modern watch-making industry. Sapphire crystals are often incorporated to complement and enhance the durability of a quality watch.
Most inexpensive and medium-priced watches used mainly for timekeeping are electronic watches with quartz movements. Expensive, collectible watches valued more for their workmanship and aesthetic appeal than for simple timekeeping often have purely mechanical movements and are powered by springs, even though mechanical movements are many times less accurate than quartz movements.
Still there is a large fascination for watches and clocks today with
a large pool of collectors for this involved in this market.
You will find a good section of books on watches and clocks to
increase your knowledge at Delve Bookstore. |
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| The
Alarm Wristwatch |
| Automatic
Wristwatches |
| Breitling
Timepieces |
| Comic
Character Wristwatches |
| The
Illinois Watch |
| The
Movado History |
| Pocket
Watches |
| Precision Pendulum Clocks -
France, Germany, and North America |
| Precision Pendulum Clocks -
England |
| Wristwatches
- History of a Century’s Development |
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