Related photographs
No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.
Small watches worn on bracelets are recorded in the nineteenth century, often as jewellery for women. The often-repeated statement that one maker 'invented' the wristwatch should be treated cautiously: several early examples are documented, and claims usually depend on how a wristwatch is defined.
For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the pocket watch remained the normal men's timepiece. It was protected inside clothing, could be larger and therefore easier to make accurately, and suited the conventions of dress at the time.
Military needs encouraged change. Soldiers and officers needed to read the time while keeping their hands free, and some converted pocket watches or fitted small watches into leather straps. Accounts of campaigns in the late nineteenth century and especially the First World War describe wristwatches in service. Early 'trench watches' often used small pocket-watch-style cases with wire lugs soldered on, enamel or porcelain dials, and protective grilles in some cases.
Technical adaptation followed. A watch on the wrist is exposed to knocks, sweat, dust and changes of position. Makers improved case sealing, unbreakable glass alternatives, shock protection and smaller movements that could still keep satisfactory time. Self-winding wristwatches became commercially established in the twentieth century, after earlier experiments.
The change was not a single date. Through the 1920s and 1930s wristwatches became increasingly normal, while pocket watches remained in use, particularly for railway service, formal wear and in some trades. Railroad timekeeping rules in North America continued to specify pocket watches for many years.
When dating a transitional piece, look at the case, lugs, crown position and movement separately. A small pocket-watch movement in a wristwatch case may be original wartime production or a later conversion; the case record, any hallmark and the fit of the movement are the evidence that distinguishes them.
From wristlet to trench watch
The evolution of the wristwatch traces back to early designs intended for women, with the oldest surviving example being a bracelet watch made in 1806 for Joséphine de Beauharnais. While Abraham-Louis Breguet created a wristwatch for the Queen of Naples in 1810, the first series of purpose-made men's wristwatches was produced by Girard-Perregaux around 1880 for the German Navy. Early models were often referred to as wristlets, a term that remained in use until the early 1930s. Trench watches typically had an enamel dial and a luminous radium hour hand, with a movement originally designed in the 1890s for ladies' pendant watches.
Military demand accelerated innovation, as officers in the British Army adopted wristwatches during 1880s colonial campaigns, and Mappin & Webb introduced a campaign watch for the 1898 Sudan conflict. By 1903, the Swiss firm Dimier Frères & Cie patented a design incorporating wire lugs, a feature that became standard for early trench watches. Post-war adoption was rapid, exemplified by the British Horological Journal observing in 1917 that the wristlet watch was moving from a rarity to a common accessory for men in both uniform and civilian life.
Written from the encyclopedia entries listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited text.