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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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