A pocket watch is a watch made to be kept in a pocket rather than strapped to the wrist. It usually has a chain, so the owner can fasten it and keep it from being lost. From its appearance in the 1500s, it was the usual kind of watch until the wristwatch caught on.
Where it comes from
Three different forms of watch were made in Nuremberg in the early 1500s. None of them was egg-shaped. One, the flat drum watch, hung on a cord around the neck rather than sitting in a pocket. These first watches used a verge escapement with no balance spring. As a result, how well they kept time depended on how they were carried. The spread of railways led to strict standards being set in 1893 for pocket watches used on the railroads. Around the time of the First World War, wristwatches began to replace pocket watches in men’s fashion.
What case styles are there?
An open-face case, also called a Lépine, has no metal lid over the crystal. Nothing covers the glass, so the dial is always in view. A hunter case has a lid. Its crown sits at the 3 o’clock position. Pressing the crown releases a spring catch, and the lid opens. A half-hunter case has a hunter-style lid with a round glass window set into it. This lets the owner read the time with the lid shut.
How is a pocket watch carried?
Most pocket watches have a chain attached. The owner fastens the chain so the watch is not lost. A fob is often used with a pocket watch as well. The word fob comes from the German fuppe, meaning a small pocket. A wristwatch, by contrast, is worn strapped on the wrist rather than kept in a pocket. That difference in how the watch is worn is what separates the two types.
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