Pocketing Your Watch

Unlike wristwatches which are meant to be worn on the wrist, a pocket watch, as the name suggests, is a watch placed on the pocket. They often come in traditional analog displays. It can be placed on any of the coat pockets, on the trousers, or vest pockets and are often secured by a chain to a belt loop or the lapel for security.

A pocket watch cannot be called such without its ornamental parts. It has a chain, or fob, to secure the watch that is usually made of such materials as gold and silver. The hinged watch cover that is found in most pocket watches to protect the face of the watch may be designed with intricate engravings or studded with gemstones. Pocket watches also have fasteners to secure them properly.

Pocket watches have been in circulation long before wristwatches became popular. The earliest mention of new pocket watches ever made was in a letter written to the Marchese di Manta from an Italian clock maker named Bartholomew Manfredi in the year 1462. The letter was a proposal to make the Marchese a pocket clock that was better than the one owned by the Duke of Modena.

The first pocket clock that actually fit the pocket was invented in 1510 by Peter Heinlein, a German locksmith from Nuremberg. From then on he continued making such watches until it became a must-have all over Europe.

Pocket watches come in two varieties. There is the open-faced that can be of the wind-up variety called a mechanical pocket watches. The other is the covered version, with a hinged cover protecting its crystal and face. A pocket watch has a seconds dial placed at six oclock, with the stem for the chain at twelve oclock. The hunter stem then is at three oclock. To read the open face pocket watches then, the watch is turned ninety degrees so that the stem points to the right.

Modern pocket watches make use of quartz movement as opposed to the mechanical watches, meaning, no winding is necessary.

Pocket watches are clearly not as common as the wristwatches, but they are often preferred for their functionality and elegance. Pocket watches can be customized with designs and engravings on the watch cover or trinkets on pocket watch accessories. These can also be made perfect gifts by customizing them with designs you have in mind.

Pocket watches come in all forms and styles: there are Swiss Army Pocket watches, ladies pendants, chronograph and traditional pocket watches. Any of them can make a great keepsake.