Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

A place to discuss vintage watches.
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River Rat
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Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by River Rat » Sun Mar 05, 2023 10:01 am

Before wristwatches most men carried one of these.
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In early 1900's women started wearing wristwatches. Men thought it was a women thing to wear a wristwatch and you were a sissy if you wore one. But then WW1 started. The military thought that wristwatches were a good thing left your hands free to shoot a weapon and look at the time at the same time for synchronizing your watch for an upcoming battle. They started calling them trench watches and they were the first wristwatches. And since soldiers used them, they became manly to wear. And why we have this hobby today all because of these below.
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This one above was used by Mr. Cooper in WW1 he is in the photo.
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This one has a shrapnel guard to protect the crystal when crawling through the trenches.
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This was called the Pershing dial name after the US general. Was issued to the US Army.
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This one was issued to the US signal corps in WW1.
So, you can thank these watches for getting you into this watch habit. Just think if the military did not catch on to trench watches, we could still be using pocket watches.

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r.palace
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Re: Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by r.palace » Sun Mar 05, 2023 12:10 pm

Interesting read. Thanks for sharing RR.
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River Rat
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Re: Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by River Rat » Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:00 pm

The the boer war was the first time the miltary started using wristwatches.

River Rat
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Re: Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by River Rat » Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:03 pm

Here is one of the better articles about how the wristwatch started.
https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/trenchwatches.php

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aikiman44
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Re: Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by aikiman44 » Sun Mar 05, 2023 3:11 pm

Thank you.
"We'd better synchronize our watches."

AranaWhite
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Re: Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by AranaWhite » Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:07 pm

Another interesting read, thank You. Luminous wrist watch with unbreakable glass, at the head, they must have been rugged.

KENNSON
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Re: Any one ever wondered how wristwatches came about.

Post by KENNSON » Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:29 pm

Interesting.
I am always intrigued with human ingenuity. fascinating stuff. Thank you.

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