1.  Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin is an astronaut and aviator who was along for the historical Apollo 11 mission, which was the first manned landing on the moon.  Aldrin was the pilot for the Lunar Module that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.  Following after Mission Commander Niel Armstrong, Buzz Alrin became the second person ever to set foot on the moon.  Both Aldrin and Armstrong were issued Omega Speedmaster Professional watches for the mission, but Armstrong had to leave his in the Lunar Module.  Worn by Buzz Aldrin when he explored the moon that day, the Omega Speedmaster Professional became the first watch to be worn on the moon.

Omega Speedmaster Professional

The Omega Speedmaster Professional had a number of features, which include the following:
Chronograph design with three interior dials
Manual-winding movement
Fixed-bezel tachometer instrument
Stopwatch feature

Citizen Calibre 2100

The Citizen Calibre 2100 for men has many of the features that the Omega Speedmaster Professional has.  Like the Speedmaster, the Calibre has a black face with white markers.  The watch also has a chronometer design with a tachometer bezel.  The Citizen Calibre 2100 also had a date indicator,  Japanese-Quartz movement, 1/5-second incriments, solar powered Eco-Drive technology and a power reserve meter.

2.  John F.  Kennedy

John F.  Kennedy served as a member of the US House of Representatives, a United States Senator, and the 35th President of the United States.  He became the first Catholic president and the first president to have won a Pullitzer Prize.  In 2005, Omega bought one of JFK’s wristwatches, which was being auctioned-off by a collector.  The watch was given to JFK by his friend Grant Stockdale before the 1960 Presidential Election.  JFK the following message engraved on the back of the Omega ‘Ultra Thin’ watch: “President of the United States John F.  Kennedy from his friend Grant”.

Omega ‘Ultra Thin’

The Omega ‘Ultra Thin’ owned by JFK had black leather straps, a gold casing, gold markers and gold hands.  The face of the watch is cream-colored and rectangular in shape.

Seiko Men’s

The Seiko Men’s watch is a simple watch, similar in form to the Omega ‘Ultra Thin’.  This watch also has a rectangular face, but the face color is gold instead of the light cream color of JFK’s watch.  The casing of the watch is constructed from stainless steel with gold plating, giving it an appearance similar to the Ultra Thin.  Also, the Seiko watch has brown leather straps like other popular mens watches.

3.  Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is one of the most famous, influencial and important scientists and theorists in world history.  As a theoretical physicist, Einstein gained worldwide recognition for his theory of relativity, with the mass-energy equivalence formula: E= MC^2.  Einstein has made immense contributions to studies on time, space and physics, in general.  Albert Einstein wore a Longines gold watch, which was auctioned in 2008 for a record-breaking $596,000.  It was the highest price that a Longine’s product has ever been auctioned for.

Longines gold watch

The Longines gold watch owned by Albert Einstein had a tonneau shape with a leather band.  The numbers on the face were large and it also had a small dial for counting seconds.  There was a single winding dial on the right side of the case for setting the time.  The casing of the watch is gold in color, while the face is an off-white.

Elini ‘New Yorker’ Men’s Chronograph

The Elini ‘New Yorker’ is a watch that is similar in shape and color to Albert Einstein’s Longines.  The New Yorker has a tonneau shape, with large numbers on the face.  The watch casing is also gold in color, while the dial is white.  The Elini also features a leather band, but the Elini has white leather straps instead of the brown leather on Einstein’s Longines.  The Elini has a chronograph design and a date indicator.

4.  Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the current President of the united States.  As the 44th President of the United States, Obama is also the first African American President.  Obama has also served as a Member of the Illinois Senate and a United States Senator.  Before Obama occupied the office in 2009, he was known to wear a Tag Heuer that has served him well from the 1990s up to around 2007.

TAG-Heuer Series 1500 Two-Tone Diver

The TAG-Heuer Series 1500 is a diving watch that has a double safety clasp, sapphire glass, luminous hands and markers, unidirectional turning bezel, and is water resistant for up to 200 meters.  The watch has a light face with a date indicater at the 3-o’clock position.  Obama’s TAG is usually worn with the leather straps.

Luminox EVO Navy Seal Dive Watch
http://www.ewatches.com/media/ss_size2/6201.jpg
Although the Luminox EVO Navy Seal Dive Watch is not a two-tone watch like Obama’s TAG, the Luminox also has a beveled, unidirectional bezel.  The Luminox has a black leather band, with a buckle clasp.  Like the TAG, the Luminox has luminous markers and pointers, as well as a date indicator at the 3-o’clock position.  The Luminox has a black face, while Obama’s TAG has a white face.

5.  Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is the current Prim Minister of Russia.  He also held two consecutive terms as the President in Russia from 2000 to 2008.  Before becoming the President of Russia, Putin served as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers for the Union of Russia and Belarus, as well as the Chairman of United Russia.  Putin has been listed as one of “Time” magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.  Amongst Putin’s numerous watches, one of the most popular is the Breguet Marine, which is worth around $40,000.

Breguet Marine

The Breguet Marine model owned by Putin has a stainless steel case with a rubber strap.  The dial is engine-turned and crafted from silvered 18-Karat gold.  It has an automatic winding mechanical movement and a date-indicator at the 6-o’clock position.

Swiss Army Ground Force

The Swiss Army Ground Force Watch is similar to the Breguet Marine in its simplicity and function.  Like the Breguet, the Ground Force watch does not have a bezel instrument, but it does features large markers and a date indicator.  The Swiss Army watch is made out of titanium, with a rubber band.  Also this watch uses an automatic, self-wind movement, which is a feature modern mens watches and womens watches.

Dependent on the Sun

You are not content, however.  You figure that the sun has something to do about time.  It has become tiring to wait for the sun to actually set before you realize that the day is over.  This time, you want to be just a little bit prepared for it.  You want to know how much time left you have for your business.  In Egypt, humans have started telling the time through the shadows of their obelisks and pyramids.  It is time to have something all your own to stare at without being crowded by the rest of your neighbors.  So, the sundial was invented.  It was not that easy to read the sundial, however.  You have to set it out under the sun and read the time through the angle of shadows cast by the sun on it.

Keeping time on a chain

Though the sundial period in watch history was pretty civilized, it was necessary to make telling time even more accurate.  Other methods of telling time have been invented.  There was a transformation from telling time from clock towers (kind of like a more accurate version of staring at pyramids) to watches that come with a chain or a belt.  The pocket watch of the 1500s was egg-shaped and heavy, but it was better than coming back to a clock tower several times a day.  It also looked absolutely fashionable.  You could actually see some people who still have lighter versions of the pocket watch today.

Decking out the watch

Of course, no matter how much you focus on science there will always be those who care more about looks.  The age of the fashionista did not start in the 21st century, after all.  As different watch models came out in different sizes, people began recognizing these timepieces as jewelry.  Because these were jewelry, these watch models needed some decking out.  In the 1600s, mens watches and womens watches began taking the shapes of objects, animals and even made use of religious themes.

Not everyone was in it for the fun, however.  During this era, the Puritan movement in England prompted some people to keep their watches simple.

Inventing the chronometers

Watch-making continued to improve in terms of both function and design during the late 17th century to early 18th century.  The dials were then already made of enamel while the watches’ hands were made of gold or steel. 

The watch was also becoming more accurate – becoming more of a timepiece rather than just jewelry to show off.  The birth of the chronometer made sure of that.  It was in 1807 that the recording chronograph was invented by Thomas Young.  The idea behind it, however, came from John Harrison.  Harrison was the person who invented a timepiece that was accurate enough to measure longitude.  His invention was too complicated though.  Other horologists had made it possible for an accurate pocket chronometer to be made in 1800.

Introducing classic timepieces

Horologists continued to become restless.  After the chronometers, Adolph Nicole had improved on the chronograph by providing a start, stop, and reset feature in 1844.  The 19th and 20th centuries then witnessed more improvements on mens watches and womens watches.  This time, inventions did not only come with the name of an inventing horologist, they came branded.

In 1853, dual time zone in a watch was first introduced by Tissot.

In 1865, the Zenith brand was born.

In 1918, Japan’s Shakosha Watch Company was born.  In 1931, Shakosha became Citizen.

In 1924, Kinttaro Hatori introduced Seiko.

In 1929, Tissot made another innovation: the anti-magnetic watch

In 1957, Hamilton created the battery-driven watch.

In 1970, Hamilton came back with another world’s first in watches: the electronic digital watch.

In 1972, Seiko with Longines introduced the liquid crystal display (LCD).

In 1983, the trendy Swatch brand was born.

In 1999, true to the rise of high technology, Casio introduced watches that employed global positioning system (GPS) technology.

There were other brands and other innovations.  Surely, there will also be more to be expected in the future of watch-making.  You never know, you may later on see the future of teeny wristwatches with heavy computer applications.  These timepieces will be light and convenient to carry, but they might be difficult to read; scientists still continue to find answers even for these things though.