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.