Time is precisely as old as the universe though the realization and tracking of time came much later. Humans have always been inquisitive about time as it was something inevitable in their life. Tracking time was never easy, but it was the need of every passing moment to understand it to regulate their affairs. Human has an instinctual agog to understand everything existing in the universe, which has also led to the curiosity to see the past and future while remaining in the present, albeit it remains a utopia even when by the grace of Einstein we have the “special theory of relativity.”
If we analyze the existing facts and factoids about the start of time tracking then it may take you to the past of over 5000 years ago when with many other innovations, the Ancient Egyptians became pioneers of time by dividing the daylight into 12 intervals. The Egyptians started measuring time with a simple sundial. A few centuries later the Greeks and the Romans further refined the sundial.
The sundial was only practical when the sun was shining but was useless at night or on an overcast sky. The Romans used a water clock called the clepsydra. It worked like an hourglass with water. But when sundials and water clocks came to Northern Europe, they became impractical as the sundial was no use on an overcast day and the water clocks froze solid in winter seasons.
While we are discussing how humans have always had a long history of thousands of years with tracking time. Let’s navigate the history of time to see the beginning of the invention of the present-time watch. The history of the clock begins several hundred years back around 15 th century. It was the time when explorers needed precise time to navigate at sea. The latitude could already be determined by seeing the position of the stars, but the longitude needed the local time and even a delay of one minute leads to a deviation of 28 km in the tropics. So the invention of the watch emerged from the need for an accurate navigation tool. The first mechanical movement was introduced in the 1200s that started the history of the watch with the “quadrans” which was a disc based on protractors to tell the time. It was the first mechanical clock that appeared accurate enough to work with a pendulum but it was not suitable for the sea as a pendulum needed to hang quietly.
Humankind has a long history tried to measure the passing of time. Throughout thousands of years, we see various time-tracking tools have been invented and developed further by different civilizations. From initial tools like a sundial to water clocks we have achieved more sophisticated and accurate instruments, like clocks and watches. Let us discuss the evolution of wristwatches, to get us started we need to go back to the beginning of the 16th century, a German clockmaker Peter Henlein in Nuremberg designed a small clock that was oval-shaped, hence it was also known as Nuremberg egg. They became gradually thinner and finally became pocket watches.
The first watchmakers were craftspeople such as locksmiths, gunsmiths, and armorers, goldsmiths who were proudly pushing the boundaries to create new and unusual pieces. These creators were keen to demonstrate their talent by offering increasingly complex and even smaller timepieces. The table clock became smaller and smaller, that it could eventually be so small that worn around the neck, slipped in a purse, or pocket and this gave birth to the present time watch. The first wristwatch can be credited to Abraham-Louis Breguet, designed for the Queen of Naples Caroline Murat, Napoleon’s sister in 1812 as an ‘oblong shaped- repeater for wristlet’ and that was a luxury watch.
The First World War had a profound influence on the history of the watch as the war popularized the wristwatch for soldiers. Soldiers started to wear watches on their wrists to keep an eye on the time quickly in the heat of the battle. Before that, the wristwatch was mainly a woman’s thing. Men remained stuck to the classic and “manly” pocket watches for almost 250 years. After the war, and being worn by soldiers, people noticed the convenience and the utility of a wristwatch over a pocket watch. Now, in everyday life, people wear it out of normality.
A watch can easily be transported around without affecting how it works, and the wristwatch has shaped our present understanding of time nearly to accuracy and accessibility. In reality, wristwatches are two centuries old and have made a lot of development and become part of all wardrobes. At present time, both genders wear watches for convenience, utility, fashion, style, statement, and luxury.
The importance of time will never change in human life, so, wristwatches will remain a necessity to track time, and it also sets statements and tells much about your style and choices. Get ready to buy a wristwatch of your desired iconic brand online at an attractive price from Amazon, Myntra, or Flipkart. Get luxury watches at a discounted price. A stylish watch is powered to elevate your whole look and confidence, make haste and grab your statement by using the coupon codes.
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