The Pocket Watch
by Jacob Reifert
About The Pocket Watch
The pocket watch is an item of many sizes that is used to measure the time. The pocket watch was often seen as a either a fashion or status symbol in the past. The first renditions of the pocket watch were being created in the early 1500's. The first spring design clock or pocket watch was created in the year 1510 by Peter Henlein. By the year 1524, pocket watches were being made for the public at a regular pace. Peter invented and produced pocket watches during the Renaissance.
The Design
The first pocket watch was a huge technological advancement. It was made with a small spring contraption on the inside of the shell that would turn the hands slowly. People no longer had to use the momentum of moving weights to gets the hands of clocks to move. The use of spring contraptions and the mainspring, the most important spring in a watch as of today, began in the late 1400's and early 1500's. This advancement allowed Peter Henlein to create a spring watch that was of portable size. Unfortunately, the pocket watch was still too big to fit in a pocket at the time.
Peter Henlein's Pocket Watch
Peter's First "Portable" Model
Another Model From Peter Henlein
Changes Through History
In the year 1675, pocket watches became even smaller and were finally able to fit in a pocket. This design was made by Charles II of England and it became popular in Europe and in the British Colonies, now the Unites States. The pocket watches were still very inaccurate until the 1750's. During the 1750's , the lever escapement, a gear contraption, was invented that kept the hands from getting out of time. In the year 1820, the lever started being used in the making of the pocket watch. That advancement has not changed since that time period. Parts started to become more readily available and more people were able to buy them. Starting in the early 1900's, pocket watches became less popular because wrist watches were available due to new technology. They are now only used for fashion purposes and status symbols because there is no need to tell the time from a pocket watch due to phones and clocks being found everywhere.
