How Was the First Wrist Watch Invented?

28.09.11 / Uncategorized / Author: admin

Most people would immediately think that the Swiss invented the wrist watch. I’m afraid not! You see, the wristwatch owes its creation to French aviation.

Would it surprise you to know that the first wristwatch was designed by a famous pocket watch designer? A man named Louis Cartier was a famous watch designer and maker, as well as a successful businessman. The watch maker in him loved to tinker, but the businessman in him loved the idea of having his own line of pocket watches.

The French aviator Alberto Santos Dumont needed a watch he could use on his flights, since using the pocket watch in a cockpit was cumbersome and didn’t work out very well. To solve this problem, Santos asked Louis Cartier, as I said, an already famous watch maker, to design him a wrist version of his pocket watch so that he could easily use it for record keeping in mid-flight.

Shortly thereafter Cartier had designed and manufactured for Santos the world’s first wristwatch! Realising the great potential of his new invention, 7 years later Cartier had completed his dream of developing his first line of wristwatches. The aviation theme that was so prevalent back in the early 1900s is carried on today by the proud line of military watches designed by Christopher Ward. The Battle of Britain commemorative watch is emblazoned with the insignia of the RAF who fought bravely during the Second World War.

Within a few years of opening his wristwatch business, Cartier’s jewellery and pocket watches business had been all but abandoned by his three sons for the designing and manufacturing of wristwatches. It isn’t until the 1920s that the Swiss pulled ahead in the wristwatch industry making themselves famous and synonymous with quality and precision.

When it comes to timepieces Swiss engineering remains unequalled, and has been for the past 95 years, almost the entire time of the wristwatch’s existence. This obvious improvement that the Swiss made with their time pieces over all others in the world is a standard that is kept to this day. It is also a standard that goes into every Christopher Ward watch. Every watch design that comes from the Christopher Ward watch company is a detailed and original design held by C.W. watches. Each design is sent to Switzerland where only the best of watch makers manufacture and assemble the complete watch, making it truly “Swiss Made”, a claim that is only legal if the watch is made in Switzerland.

This has been a brief lesson on how the first wristwatch was designed and made, courtesy of Christopher Ward, the watch company that cares enough to keep its customers informed.