The wristwatch

A wristwatch is a watch made to be worn on the wrist on a strap or bracelet; for about a hundred years it was called a bracelet watch or 'wristlet' and was mostly women's jewellery.^1, 6

Breguet's registers record an order of 8 June 1810 from the Queen of Naples for a repeater 'for bracelet', watch no. 2639, delivered in December 1811 and now lost; Breguet calls it the first known wristwatch.^7, 8

Wikipedia names earlier wrist-worn timepieces, an 'armed watch' for Elizabeth I in 1571 and a bracelet watch of 1806 for Joséphine, so the Breguet 'first' is one claim among several.^1, 7

Patek Philippe says it made the first Swiss wristwatch in 1868 for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary.^1, 9

Early men's versions were often leather cups or straps holding a small pocket watch, such as Henry Wood's Cyclist Watch Wristlet of 1893 and Arthur Garstin's registered wrist strap of the same year.^{1, 10, 11}

Purpose-made wrist cases with fixed wire lugs followed; Wikipedia credits Dimier Frères & Cie with patenting them in 1903.¹

Wikipedia says trench watches of 1914 to 1918 often used movements derived from ladies' pendant watches of the 1890s, with hinged covers kept from the pocket watch.^12, 13

Wristwatches were mocked as effeminate for men before the war, according to a 1919 Ingersoll book and the Smithsonian curator Carlene Stephens.^2, 14

The 1920s made the wristwatch a design object: shaped cases such as Cartier's Tank (designed in 1917 and on sale in 1919, by Cartier's account) and rectangular watches advertised by Longines in 1924, and gold 'bracelets-montres' in fashion plates of 1922.^{6, 15, 16, 17}

Simpler models spread too: the Rijksmuseum holds a silver wristwatch of about 1925 with niello decoration on a narrow leather strap, possibly made at Marken.¹⁸

Smaller movements were needed and were harder to make reliable; Jaeger-LeCoultre says its two-level Duoplan of 1925 kept a large balance in a small watch.^20, 21

Life on the wrist demanded protection: the Reverso's turning case (1931), sealed cases such as the Rolex Oyster, automatic winding that removed the winding stem, and shock-absorbing jewel settings.^{20, 21, 22, 23}

The ordinary watch

By Wikipedia's account the wristwatch outsold the pocket watch in Swiss exports by the early 1930s, and the name 'wristlet' gave way to 'wristwatch'; Donzé gives wristwatches 85 per cent of Swiss watch exports by 1940.^1, 3