Odd Facts About Watches

A hunting case watch has a cover that is opened by pressing the stem of the watch. The second hand is not a new idea. It has been used on watches since 1780 and on clocks before that time. The stopwatch was first used about 1680.

Clock Game

The next time you are at a party and want to win some money, bet your friends that they can’t draw a picture of an old grandfather clock with the numbers in the correct places. Try it. Almost no one realizes that the Roman numeral VI on a clock face is placed upside down on […]

Wristwatches

Although the first wristwatch may have been invented in 1868 by Patek Phillipe, pocket watches were the usual portable timepiece until the twentieth century. Early watches were hand-wound. Then in the early 1950s miniature batteries were invented and the first electric wristwatches were sold in 1957. Miniaturization made the first quartz watches possible in the […]

Sundials

A stick’s shadow, sundials, clocks, watches, and wristwatches have all made it easier for a person to tell time. The earliest known sundial dates from about 800 B.C. Pocket sundials have been recorded since the thirteenth century. The pocket sundial, used by travelers, was set with the aid of a compass. The permanent sundial is […]

Pocket Watches

Unusual antique pocket watches are the most desirable. Watches with moving figures on the dial, watches that play music or have alarms that ring, or those with elaborate gold cases have great value to collectors and historians and can be worth thousands of dollars. Any early watch signed by an American maker before he had […]

Wind-Up Clocks

Wind-up clocks made of marble, onyx, and metal were made in sophisticated art deco styles in the 1920s. Chrome, brass, copper, Bakelite, Formica, celluloid, and glass were used for clock cases for living room and bedroom clocks in the 1930s. Eight-day wind-ups were made in modern designs. Other clever clocks shaped like airplanes or statues […]

Regulator Clock

During the eighteenth century, clockmakers refined the construction of pendulums so clocks could keep accurate time. By the next century, high-quality tall case clocks stripped of striking attachments and other nonessentials were being marketed as “regulators.” They sold especially well to observatories, men’s clubs, and clockmakers, who used them to set other timepieces. By the […]

Wag-On-The-Wall Clock

The wag-on-the-wall clock was popular in Europe during the mid-1800s. These clocks were sold with a dial movement, weight, and pendulum, but they did not include a case. The wag-on-the-wall clock had a hood at the top to protect the works from dirt. Thrifty people often bought the wag-on-the-wall clock and then cased it at […]

Novelty Clocks

The idea of putting a clock into a case shaped like a person seems to have been an 1870 inspiration. Cases were made to resemble both men and women. The clock was placed in the stomach of the figure. Some of them had animated features with eyes designed to roll back and forth with each […]

Cuckoo Clock

The cuckoo clock dates back to about 1730, when the pendulum striking mechanism and the cuckoo idea were developed in Switzerland and Bavaria. It was never a popular design with American manufacturers, although some American families liked these novelties. Cuckoo clocks are still popular.