A Pocket Watch for Style

A pocket watch is the kind of watch worn not on the wrist, but placed inside a pocket. They are often in traditional analog displays. For security and easy accessibility, these watches should come with a chain.

Pocket watches are usually secured by chains which are usually decorated. These chains are often called fobs. Unlike the wristwatch, pocket watches have covers with hinges that remain closed until and unless you wish to know the time. The cover protects the pocket watch from damage and scratches. Pocket watches often have fasteners too, which go through a button hole and worn in a jacket or a waist coat. Reminds us of train conductors, doesnt it?

Pocket watches have been in circulation for quite some time now. The first reference to pocket watches ever made was in a letter written to the Marchese di Manta from an Italian clocksmith named Bartholomew Manfredi in the year 1462. The letter was an offer to make the Marchese a pocket clock that was better than the one owned by the Duke of Modena.

The earliest mention of a pocket clock was made as early as the 1400s, but the first known pocket clock to be invented, one that actually fit the pocket, was in 1510 by a German locksmith named Peter Heinlein. From then on he continued making such watches until it became a must-have all over Europe.

There are two kinds of pocket watches: open-faced and hunter type. Open-faced pocket watches are simply those that do not have covers. The latter, also referred to as hunter type or savonette, has a hinged cover to protect the watch face from scratches and breakage. A pocket watch typically has a seconds dial placed close to six oclock, a stem pendant at twelve oclock, and a hunter stem (for the cover) at three oclock. Both of these types may or may not be a winding pocket watches or watches that needs winding up for it to work.

Modern pocket watch manufacturers, however, as in the case of quartz movement pocket watches, dont worry about the tradition of movement orientation and the open face or hunter cases.

Pocket watches may not be as common as the wristwatches, but they are usually preferred for their functionality and elegance. As an accessory, pocket watch covers can be engraved with designs or embedded with stones, and pocket watch chains can be customized. These can also be made perfect gifts by customizing them with designs you have in mind.

There are a lot of options when it comes to todays pocket watches, from the standard to chronographs, ladies pendants, and Swiss Army Pocket watches. Any of them can make a great keepsake.