Copyright 1995-2017 by Parnav Singh & Michael P. Murray


	The following is a summarization of discussions which
occurred on the E-mailing list (listserver) Clocks.  To join in
this and other horological discussions please join the mailing
list Clocks or Clocksmiths and you can use the link below.


Horology on the Internet


This list was compiled by Parnav Singh (singhp@sunrise.cs.jmu.edu) and
downloaded from the E-mailing list Clocks.  Please see the file csignup.mcc
for details on how to join this mailing list.



	    Chronology of the Development of Watches


1470  First spring driven watch


1470  Fusee introduced in Italy


1500  Spring-driven, drum-shaped table clock


1505  Peter Henlein makes the first watch


1510  Stackfreed introduced to control tension in the mainspring


1520  Brass used in France to make watches


1525  Jacob Zech introduces his fusee


1550  Screws used in metal


1575  Balance wheel is introduced


1600  First watches are produced in London


1610  Enamel cases come into vogue


1630  Watch glasses are first used


1635  Paul Viet uses enamel dials


1650  Round watch cocks are used


1658  Robert Hooke invents the "straight" balance spring


1665  Watch fusees made of chain instead of gut


1674  Christian Huygens invents the spiral balance spring


1676  Motion works and minute hand introduced by Daniel Quare


1680  Second hand introduced


1694  Nicholas Facio first uses jewels in watches


1695  Cylinder escapement used by Thomas Tompion


1710  Dust caps invented


1715  Oil sinks invented by Henry Sully


1720  English Hallmarking used on silver cases


1722  Rack lever escapement invented by Abbe de Hautefeuille


1734  First bimetallic compensation invented by John Harrison


1750  Watch makers in America begin production


1750  White enamel dials are in general use


1770  Engine turning for decorating watch cases


1775  Thomas Harland of Norwich, Connecticut makes watches


1780  Pocket watches are made thinner than ever


1780  Automatic winding is invented by Abraham Louis Perrelet


1782  Isochronism introduced by John Arnold


1785  Draw applied to lever


1800  Single cases replace the pair cases


1801  Tourbillion watch made by Abraham Louis Breguet


1809  Luther Goddard makes watches


1820  Keyless winding introduced by Thomas Prest


1833  Antoine Le Coultre establishes his watch factory or workshop.
	It is here where all the company's cases and movements
	are still made by hand.


1835  First Pitkins watches produced


1842  Watches could be set by hand instead of key


1842  Jacob Custer watches made


1844  Antoine Le Coultre invents the millionometer enabling the world
	to make measurements exact to a thousandth of a millimeter.


1847  Le Coultre presents the world's first movement with a crown
	winding mechanism.  This signals the demise of  the key
	wound watch.


1850  Howard and Dennison produce the first Waltham watch


1852  First Boston watch produced


1853  First factory-made watches are sold


1857  Boston Watch Co. fails


1857  First American watch to use a quick-train


1859  Appleton Tracy and Waltham merge


1866 First American-made railroad watch produced for the
	Railroad company


1868  First American stem-wind watch


1876  Henry Abbott patents his stem winding attachment


1877  Auburndale Rotary sells for $10


1878  Double-roller used by the Adams and Perry Co.


1878  First dollar watches produced for $3.50


1880  Watches are produced in huge quantities compared to
	earlier hand-made ones


1883  Seth Thomas decides to produce pocket watches


1885  New York Standard produces its first pocket watch


1892  First watch to sell for $1.00 by Ingersoll


1893  First watch produced with the Hamilton label


1898  First 23J watch made by Hampden Watch Co.


1900  Wrist watches come into vogue


1903  Le Coultre achieves its dream of making the slimmest watch
	movement in the world.  This mechanical miracle is only
	1.38 mm thick, while even the much more complicated
	chronograph is only 2.88 mm thick.


1904  Ansonia begins to produce watches


1908  Wilsdorf coined the name Rolex.


1908  Premier Maximus introduced at $250.00


1910  A Rolex movement was sent to the School of Horology in
	Switzerland.  It was judged to be excellent and was
	awarded the world's first wrist watch chronometer rating.


1910  First electric watch for Burgess Battery Co.
	(labeled Corona Watch Co.)


1915  Seth Thomas ceases watch production


1926  The 1st waterproof Rolex rolled off the assembly line.  The
	Rolex Oyster Case was born.  To further insure the safety
	of this marvelous movement Wilsdorf created a screw
	down crown using a twin lock system.


1926  Le Coultre develops the Duoplan, a watch whose accuracy
	is way ahead of its time.


1927  All Rolex watches carried the name inside the case, on the
	movement and the dial.


1927  Buster Brown pocket watch


1928  The Rolex Prince, became a best seller with its dual dial
	and rectangular case.


1928  An engineer at Le Coultre by the name of J. L. Reutter
	devises the first Atmos clock.  This table clock does
	away with the need for winding - it derives all its power
	from minute fluctuations in room temperature.


1929  Le Coultre enters the record books with the smallest watch
	movement of all time.  It measures 14 x 4.8 x 3.4 mm and
	weighs less than a gram.


1929  New York Standard fails


1931  Rolex invented the "Rotor" - a semicircular plate of metal
	that with gravity, would move freely to wind the watch.
	Thus, the Rolex Perpetual (automatic) movement was born.


1931  Le Coultre unveils the Reverso.  A classic from the beginning
	the Reverso has a rotating mechanism which allows the
	watch to be rotated 180 degrees protecting the crystal and
	dial from damage.  It was one of the first watches to be
	equipped with built in shock resistance.


1933  Mickey Mouse pocket watch


1945  Rolex introduces the 1st watch to display a date on the dial.


1952  Rolex introduces its first diving watch.  Later this watch is
	renamed the Submariner.


1953  Jaeger - Le Coultre makes history when it unveils the
	Futurematic.  The world's first fully automatic watch
	without a winding crown.


1954  Rolex introduces the first ladies oyster perpetual watch.


1956  Rolex introduces the President model.  The first oyster watch
	that also has a day/date feature.  The first model produced
	was presented to President Eisenhower.


1957  Hamilton makes the first electric wrist watch


1959  Bulova Accutron tuning fork wrist watch introduced


1969  Last pocket watch made by Hamilton


			     *** END ***



I want to thank Pranav Singh for unselfishly sharing all of his hard
work and effort.


My FTP sites can be accessed from Mike's Clock Clinic's Web site.
This site contains all of the FTP (file transfer protocol) sites 
mentioned below plus much, much more.


The FTP sites are as follows:


Atmos Clock FTP site.
and
Repair Web FTP site.
or
Main Earthlink FTP site (contains all of the above).


	    A service from,   E-mail address Mike@atmos-man.com
	    Mike Murray         Founder of Clocksmiths


A specialist in Atmos and 400-day clock  repair.
Also, I overhaul most plug in electric clocks.
In continuous service since 04/01/1982.


Mike's Clock Clinic  Memberships: Clocksmiths & NAWCC

Copyright © 1995-2017 by Parnav Singh & Michael P. Murray

Created in November of 1995 and last updated June 15, 2017.