Imagine living in a cave during the dawn of civilization.  You do not even have a proper language to communicate complex ideas.  So, there are no high-tech mens watches and womens yet.  How can there be – you cannot even store your food properly yet.  You are human though – with a developing brain.  By your powers of observation, you realize that there is day and night, or at least light and dark moments within the day.  You just watch when the sun rises and the sun goes down.  That becomes your sense of time.  It is not that bad, really.  You do not have a meeting to attend at 2 pm, but you figure that you should get into your cave when it is totally dark.

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.
Read the rest of this entry »