10 Key Moments in the Evolution of Watches

While portable timepieces—distinct from clock towers and heavy brass clocks on marble surfaces—have existed since the 1500s, the wristwatch we know today has been around for just over 100 years. Watches have played a significant role in various ways, from winning wars to advancing industries. They've also helped us avoid looking foolish by allowing us to check the time when we're lost. And, of course, they've inspired Jay-Z's lyrics.

Watches didn’t appear out of nowhere, like Athena emerging fully formed from Zeus’s mind. However, they did seem to appear almost complete, though they have certainly evolved significantly, and that’s what we’re here to explore.

10: Women Adore Stylish Watches

After centuries of watches hanging from waistcoats, watchmaker Breguet designed a timepiece to be worn on the wrist for the Queen of Naples in 1812. In 1868, Patek Philippe joined the movement with the first commercially available women's 'wristlet.' These wristlets were seen as mere accessories for women, too small to be accurate and without a minute hand. After all, why would women need to care about the time?

9: The Majestic Manly Wristwatch!

In 1904, Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont needed a convenient way to time his thrilling aerial stunts, so he turned to Cartier to create a wristwatch for him. Cartier not only made the first real wristwatch, but it became the template for all future models. Designed for the left wrist, with 'horns' to attach the strap, a winding stem on the right, and a clasp instead of a slip-on style like women's wristlets, it also included a minute hand. This model, called the Santos, became available to the general public in 1904.

8: The Era of Wartime Watches

Accurate, hands-free timepieces became essential for the mobile soldiers of the 20th century. Initially, soldiers would adapt leather straps to hold their pocket watches, but with the size of these watches, they quickly proved impractical. By the turn of the century, watchmakers like Girard-Perregaux began equipping soldiers and sailors with wristwatches, allowing for coordinated attacks and troop movements. Metal shrapnel guards were added to protect the crystals, and eventually, radium was applied to the hands, enabling soldiers to tell time in the dark and inspire phrases like ‘oh-dark-thirty.’

7: The Rise of Tougher Timepieces

When soldiers returned home from World War I with watches on their wrists, suddenly everyone wanted one. Pocket watches quickly became a thing of the past in the 1920s—after all, who even wore a waistcoat anymore, let alone carried a fob? As wristwatches grew in popularity, they also became more durable. In 1926, Rolex introduced the first water-resistant watch, the Oyster. The delicate crystal that once protected watches was replaced with cheaper, lighter, scratch-resistant plastic. Though plastic would eventually yellow over time (pun intended), wristwatches became as affordable and disposable as many other products. So what's the big deal, Pops?

6: Who's the Leader of the Club That's Made for You and Me?

As watches became more affordable and durable, they were even considered suitable for children—the notorious little destroyers of all things nice. In 1933, the Mickey Mouse watch by Ingersoll-Waterbury was released, the first timepiece ever designed specifically for kids. Just five years after Mickey's debut, over 11,000 of these watches flew off the shelves at Macy's in New York on its first day. Priced at only $3 (equivalent to about $54 in 2014), it was a steal. Ingersoll-Waterbury also made a Mickey Mouse pocket watch that sold for half the price, but it didn't find as much success, likely because there weren't enough waistcoat-wearing kids in 1933 to make it popular.

5: Put a Fork in It

Up until this point, if you owned a watch and wanted it to actually serve a purpose rather than just being a stylish leather-wrapped accessory, you had to wind it twice a day. Forget to do so, and the watch would slow down and eventually stop, leaving you late for your obligations. The phrase "I forgot to wind my watch" became as common as "I forgot to charge my phone" today. But in 1957, Hamilton Watch Company introduced the electric watch, the Hamilton 500. Priced at $89.50 (or roughly $745 in 2014), it featured a tiny battery-powered tuning fork inside, which eliminated the need for winding. Unfortunately, battery problems led to the discontinuation of the electric watch in 1969.

4: The Quartz Be With You

The electric watch didn’t fade out completely on its own; quartz movement played a significant role in its demise (yes, another pun intended). On Christmas Day 1969 (who decided on that timing?), Seiko introduced the 35SQ Astron in Japan. This quartz watch had no moving parts, meaning it required no winding, no cleaning, and no tiny tuning fork. It was also far more shock-resistant than its predecessors, simply because there wasn’t much inside to get damaged when you accidentally bumped it against your desk.

3: Digital Underground

Although the Hamilton Watch Company took a hit after the demise of its electric watch, it wasn’t out of the game. They were already working on their next groundbreaking invention: the digital watch. When the Hamilton Pulsar arrived in 1972, it came with a hefty price tag of $2,100, or about $12,000 in 2014, placing it in the same realm as luxury timepieces. What made it so special? The 18k gold watch came with a ruby crystal that gave the LED display its red glow. With a 25-chip circuit inside, it consumed so much power that the time didn’t display continuously. Instead, you had to press a button to see the time appear on the screen.

2: Swatch This

When Swatch launched its affordable, vibrant timepieces in 1983, it was more connected to the legacy of watches than it might have realized. Not with neon hues and rubber face covers, of course, but with the concept of watches as fashion accessories, just like the first wristwatches were. Swatches weren’t meant to be heirlooms, passed down from father to son like Christopher Walken’s in 'Pulp Fiction.' Swatch’s idea was for you to collect several of its inexpensive plastic watches and mix them up daily. Or wear them stacked like bracelets or – dare we say – wristlets. According to the brand, its mission is right in its name: a blend of 'second watch.'

1: Calling Dick Tracy

For years, in films and comic books from detective stories to sci-fi, characters would raise their wrists to their mouths and converse with someone. It’s a human aspiration, much like flying or ordering pizza delivery, and it’s finally come true. Sony’s Android-powered SmartWatch can handle emails, text messages, and social media notifications, which are modern substitutes for actually talking to people – something we seem to be doing less and less. But it turns out, this dream might not be all it’s cracked up to be. Now that communicating via a wristwatch is possible, fewer people seem to actually want to use it. Not because we’re avoiding human interaction – of course not. It’s just that our smartphones do everything these watches can, and more. Many have long since abandoned their watches for their 'time-telling pocket computers.' As a result, wristwatches now feel outdated, no matter how advanced they’ve become.