Destinations: the Seychelles, Alphonse Island
18 November 2024
Bespoke: Cufflinks; wrist decoration
20 November 2024Pockets to Pick
What better time to look back at a revolutionary item, the world’s first wearable tech – the pocket watch
A s technological innovation goes, it’s hard to argue with an iWatch, or the latest gadgety thing out of South Korea. But just imagine life before any kind of portable timepiece. Once you’d left home you were chronometrically speaking all at sea. There were portable sundials – useless on a cloudy day (and without a compass). And there were, believe it or not, even portable water clocks – the ancient Greek physician Herophilos used one to measure the pulse. But these were hardly practical.
In order for progress to march, it needed timekeeping on the go. Once the mechanical clock arrived, around the 13th century, this started to look possible. And once the coiled spring had replaced weights as an energy store, the race was on. Clocks suddenly could be made small enough to carry, though in the 15th century they were about as elegant as a 1980s mobile phone. But with time they got smaller, and more precise. People started calling these portable clocks “watches”, because the men who mounted the watch used them to time their shifts.
By the 17th century a watch was dainty enough to be carried in a special pocket on the waistband or in the waistcoat. The hunter was developed, with a door to stop the watchglass getting scratched, and the half hunter (the door has a glass porthole), even the double hunter (door back and front). In the 19th century, pocket watches went from being wound with a key to being stem-wound. Then along came the First World War and with it the wristwatch – much more convenient in the trenches. Pocket watches are still about, of course, and are now enjoying something of a revival. Here are six reasons why.
Patek Philippe 980G-010
Patek Philippe are one of the few high end manufacturers who continue to take the pocket watch seriously. Never a mass producer – in 150 years they have manufactured roughly what Rolex produce in year – every year they produce a few examples of the watch that first established Geneva as a centre of horology over 400 years ago.
It was Patek Philippe who invented the keyless winding mechanism, and when Albert Einstein finally started making some money, a Patek Philippe pocket watch is what he bought.
The 980 is a seriously classic example of why Patek Philippe are so sought after and comes with a G suffix (white gold), a J (yellow gold), or an R (rose gold).
All are a restrained 48mm wide and are classic, elegant hunters with a seconds subdial and that’s it. Expect 50 hours of power reserve from its 18-jewel 17 SAV PS calibre.
Every year they produce a few examples of the watch that first established Geneva as a centre of horology over 400 years ago
Bovet Amadeo Fleurier Tourbillon Virtuoso III
The clever thing about the Bovet watches in the Amadeo range is that they can all be worn as a wristwatch, or as a pocket watch. Bovet supply this new-in-2014 tourbillon with a chain or a strap, so take your pick. The case can even be flipped to turn the Amadeo into a miniature table clock – handy for hotels and the early-morning call that never comes.
There’s a lot of watch to admire here, a technical marvel that houses a retrograde perpetual calendar, the day/date information reading out on sapphire discs at the periphery of the dial. This placing allows room for the tourbillon to spin away uncluttered at the six o’clock position.
Adding to the impression of space is the skeletisation of the dial, which lets the wearer squint into the inner workings of a remarkably complex calibre that’s good for five days without a wind. A tour de force.
Chopard Louis Ulysse The Tribute
Like the Bovet Amadeo, this elegant, simple pocket watch can also be transformed into a wristwatch, though this one does it with a flick of the fingers and a switching of adjustable lugs and a cradle. It’s a decent 49mm wide – big for a wristwatch but fine for a fob pocket – and comes in white gold, with a white enamel dial, stark black roman numerals and a dash of red. Pure retro, in other words, this initial impression reinforced by the sort of flat sides that were standard in the 19th century.
The LUC handwound mechanical 06.01-L movement, on the other hand, is new, having been developed in collaboration with L’Ecole d’Horlogerie de Genève (the NASA of horology), and is intended to be accurate (it’s COSC certified) and incredibly robust. Not that you’d want to start bashing about something that retails at around $45,000 and whose numbers are limited to 150.
The case can even be flipped to turn the Amadeo into a miniature table clock – handy for hotels and the early-morning call that never comes
Bell & Ross – Heritage PW1
If many pocket watches look to the 19th century for inspiration, with Bell & Ross the focus is all Edwardian; this PW1 (Pocket Watch 1) is a throwback to those magnificent men and women in their flying machines, who needed a big bold watch with easy-to-read numerals. With its black face and white hands and indexes, the look is military. In keeping with this, the PW1 is made of honest-to-goodness steel (with a barleycorn guilloché on the caseback, to add a frisson of decoration). There’s a sister wristwatch, the WW1 (that’s Wrist Watch 1 not World War 1), whose design reflects the fact that early wristwatches were often Gerry rigged pocket watches. But back to the PW1, inside which is a Swiss ETA manually wound 6974 movement. The case is water resistant to 50 metres – handy in the eventuality that the kite takes a bath.
Hermes Arceau Pocket Millefiori
And at completely the opposite end of the decorative spectrum there’s the Arceau Millefiori, the pocket watch version of this collection coming with a crystal cover made with the technique of St Louis Millefiori paperweights. Beneath this peacock-eyed cover is a relatively sober gradated grey enamel dial – or you can opt for the raspberry version which is anything but – and inside is a Hermes H1837 mechanical self-winding movement. Both versions come in a 48mm white gold case, complete with anti-glare sapphire crystal and caseback. They are finished in platinum, which has also been used on the bridges and oscillating weight, and they hang on a matte alligator strap. There’s even a snug alligator pouch to keep the watch in when you’re not making excuses to take it out and show it off.
Beneath this peacock-eyed cover is a relatively sober gradated grey enamel dial – or you can opt for the raspberry version which is anything but
People People
Meanwhile, in Sweden. That’s right, Sweden. Adding to the heresy, a watch made by a company that calls itself an “industrial design agency”. People People noticed that just plain ordinary people, men mostly, were increasingly wearing three-piece suits again. And so they came up with a watch that would fit right in. It’s a from-first-principles affair, pared right back to its absolute simplest and made from aluminium. The face features an integrated dial and markings, the idea being that it’s made from a single piece of metal, eventually using 3D printing technology.
And it nearly didn’t exist. Plans to launch it earlier this year were scuppered when People People couldn’t find a movement thin enough to fit inside. However, after a dash around this year’s Baselworld trade show People People secured Miyota’s 9T22, which is only 1.9mm. Its launch date: right about now.