![]() The back of the watch features this engraved dedication: “From the President of the United States to Henry William Webster, Master of the British Tug Champion, in recognition of his humane services in effecting the rescue at sea, on January 31, 1919, of the master and crew of the American Steam Ship Piave.”Ī tradition started by Abraham Lincoln, these watches were a kind of medal of valor awarded only to captains of foreign vessels who rescued American crews at sea. All of the sailors were saved thanks to the heroic efforts of Capt. vessel Piave when it ran aground after a fierce storm on Goodwin Sands at the southern end of the North Sea. In 1919, Webster was rewarded with this 18-carat gold watch for assisting the U.S. The pocket mechanical watch below, for example, was presented to Henry William Webster, Captain of the British tugboat Champion, by Woodrow Wilson. ![]() Pocket watches have historically been given as gifts at important milestones like a graduation or retirement, are passed down in a family, or given as an honor for an act of service. Had the conductor's railroad pocket watch been correct, he would not have started the journey to Toledo and would have known that the mail train was approaching on the same line.Ī pocket watch for a railroad engineer by Waltham. An investigation later found that the crash was due to the Toledo Express's conductor's pocket watch being four minutes behind, making the train late. On Apin Kipton, Ohio, the eastbound fast-moving mail train #14 and the westbound Toledo Express passenger train were on the same tracks when they collided head on, killing six postal clerks and two engineers. One of the great American railroad tragedies led to stringent standards for watches used in railroading. The trend then trickled into civilian life and became the preferred mechanical watch accessory.ĭuring the 19th century, railroading was on the rise, and pocket watches were an essential tool to an engineer in running the trains on time. The telephone and signal service began to play an important role in the war effort, making the ability to tell time at a glance a necessity for soldiers, thus, the wristwatch became standard issue. Pocket watches slowly began to fall out of fashion after WWI due to the wristwatch's widespread use among soldiers during the war. It was only then that they became common across many industries, including sailing and railroading. ![]() They would not become ubiquitous within the middle class until the Industrial Revolution when more affordable options were available and they were essential to conducting business. This resulted in the emergence of the modern pocket watch design we are familiar with today - a smooth, flattened sphere that easily slipped into a pocket with a chain to attach the watch to the waistcoat.įor much of their history, these gentleman timepieces were considered a luxury item and therefore a symbol of wealth and status for the wearer. It became the fashion for men to wear these watches in their pockets rather than around their necks in 1675 when Charles II of England popularized the waistcoat. (The minute hand would not be possible until roughly 1675 after French watchmaker, Isaac Thuret, revolutionized the movement design and improved accuracy.) These first watches, known as pomanders, were often turned into pendants or attached to clothing, making them the first clocks to be worn. Heinlein was successfully producing these devices regularly by 1524, and he and his contemporaries improved upon them throughout the 16th century, although they only included the hour hand. The first portable clock was created by German locksmith and clock-maker, Peter Heinlein, in 1505 in Nuremberg - a scientific and humanist hub at the time. Read on to discover the origins of the pocket watch and some notable facts about these gentleman timepieces with this antique watch guide. With a 500-year-old history, no method of timekeeping possesses more range, style and individuality than the antique pocket watch. ![]() Farmers could accurately coordinate with town merchants to time produce shipments, train conductors could keep a punctual schedule, and scientists could conduct more precise experiments. With the invention of the portable pocket watch, commerce could thrive in ways it hadn't before. One of the greatest innovations was the development of the “portable clock,” or watch. First marked only by night and day, then by the town square's church bells ringing in the hours, and eventually by precision clocks that can count the minutes and seconds, our concept of time has evolved as our needs have. Timekeeping was one of mankind's first puzzles to crack. Patek Philippe Minute Repeater Pocket Watch
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