![]() There are literally thousands of pocket watches from the last century and beyond gathering dust in drawers and boxes that no one knows what to do with. But unlike wristwatches, which are undergoing an unprecedented renaissance, pocket watches are still largely unpopular. Rolex is on its way to producing one million watches per year (if it hasn’t already). Sure, these production numbers pale in comparison to modern standards. In 1880 alone, the Illinois Watch Company produced 47,065 watch movements. My great-grandfather’s watch undoubtedly came from that facility. The Elgin National Watch Company had the largest watch manufacturing complex in the world in Elgin, Illinois for nearly 100 years. Between 18, the Waltham Watch Company manufactured about 40 million timepieces and instruments, a great deal of which were pocket watches. Back then, the United States was one of the largest producers of pocket watches. Before the popularity of wristwatches, almost every man that needed to know the time and could afford a waistcoat owned a pocket watch. The ultimate source for pocket watches is the past. ![]() The Ploprof is already pocket-watch-sized, just in a different orientation. In the live-and-let-live world of watch enthusiasm and ownership where no one bats an eye at someone strapping an Omega Ploprof to their wrist for running errands, there’s no better time to test the waters of using a pocket watch or, at the very least, owning one and enjoying it privately. We still have pockets (those haven’t been made obsolete… yet). I’m nowhere near claiming that pocket watches are making or will make a comeback, but if they ever were to, it would be at a time when the practicality of watches is at its lowest and their popularity is at its highest. The obsolescence of the simple non-smartwatch combined with its intense resurgence in popularity in recent years may be the saving grace that pocket watches need. Since then, the battle-ready-tool-watch motif has grown to dominate men’s timepieces, leaving little room for anything less than shock-resistant wristwatches with water resistance of at least 50 meters. They’ve been suffering a slow and painful demise ever since soldiers returned from WWI with wire lugs welded to theirs. Pocket watches are everywhere, in many different forms and uses, regardless of how much the modern watch industry neglects them. For years, my mother had a simple pocket watch on a short fob that she kept clipped to her work bag as she doesn’t like anything on her wrists. ![]() It’s his only watch, and he wears it appropriately on the rare occasion he’s caught in a suit. My good friend - a rough-and-tumble skater who would rather be skating or climbing trees more than anything - has a pocket watch that was gifted to him by his in-laws. It doesn’t run, but it may one day, especially with my renewed interest as a result of writing this article. It’s a small Elgin with the gold plating worn off the brass where his fingers handled it most. And - believe it or not - there are still people in the world who use them daily.Īs I mentioned in my last article, I have a pocket watch I inherited from my great-grandfather. However, companies like Seiko and Patek Philippe have a strong history with the form. Taken out of context, today’s pocket watches seem like an anachronistic novelty. And there’s at least one company making old pocket watches into something completely new. Today, a handful of watch companies still make pocket watches for those few going for uber-sophistication (or irony). Their larger size allowed for some of the most complicated watches ever made. Sure, they’re outdated, but in this case, that also indicates a rich history. I’m going out on a limb here and assuming that at least some of Fratello’s readership is interested in pocket watches. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |