Story Behind Inventors and Inventions Wristwatch

About the origins, history and story behind the scenes of the inventor and invention of the wristwatch.

Extraordinary Stories behind Ordinary Objects That Had to Be Invented by Someone

Invention: Wristwatch

Inventor: Jacquet-Droz and Leschet, Switzerland

Year: 1790

How Invented: The first wristwatch was introduced in Geneva, Switzerland, by the watchmakers Jacquet-Droz and Leschet as a watch fixed on a bracelet. During the next century, these bracelet watches remained exclusively items of jewelry for women. The most famous surviving example belonged to the Empress Josephine. Encrusted with pearls and emeralds, this bracelet with a gold watch was made in 1806 by Nitot, a Parisian jeweler. Despite Josephine's leadership, it was not until 1908 that Parisian women made wristwatches fashionable. Among men, war, not fashion, brought the wristwatch into popularity. First in 1880, they were ordered by the German Admiralty for artillery officers, and then in W.W.I, the wristwatch replaced the traditional pocket watch because of its practicality during active service.

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