Tick, Tock, Tick Tock

I love watches! I have many of them, some fancy, some utilitarian, and some as part of a collection of timepieces that I have purchased from various museums as a momento of favorite art exhibits. These are not valuable, but they remind me of wonderful excursions and happy hours.
And then, I have a wonderful old gold antique pocket watch that I was reminded of recently during the course of a particular conversation. It is a Waltham, Hunter-style, with delicate hands, and a marvelous sweep second hand in its own dial. Its cover has a floral design with tiny bird all rendered in various colors of gold (pink, yellow and even a rather green hue). It was given to me by my family many Christmases ago, so it is a treasured piece. I gather it is from the mid-to late 1800's, as in doing some research, I find that the pocket watch that we generally recognize was not manufactured until then.

The first mention of a "pocket clock"can be found in  some correspondence dating November 1462 in Italy, and by the 15th Century, Peter Henlein, a master locksmith of Nuremburg began manufacturing the small personal watch, spring-driven, called the Nuremburg Egg (at left), in 1524! German, of course!!

By the 1700's, a great advance in technology allowed for better time keeping, with the verge or crown wheel escapement, a mechanism that controlled the rate of advancing the hands in an orderly and "timely" manner. This is where the Tick, Tick, Tick of the workings comes from!!This verge  (shown below) made the development of all-mechanical clocks possible!

The first American pocket watches with machine parts were made by Henry Pitkin in the 1830's. Then there was Waltham, or the American Waltham Company. My Waltham is an American watch.

And then, there are the "Jewels". They are usually made from ruby or sapphire, though sometimes diamonds, garnet or even glass. They are shaped like discs with a hole in the middle. the pivot part of the watch rides in these holes, that act like bearings, providing an extremely smooth surface for the parts to move, resisting friction, and assisting with accuracy.

When pocket or personal watches first came on the scene, they were for the affluent. You really can't image a farmer in the countryside running the daily workings of his farm by taking out his watch, and remarking, "Oh, by jove, it's time to feed the cows!" Rather, he waited on the dawning of the sun, or the rising of the moon to mark the hours.

But for the privileged who could whip out their golden watch from a fob hanging from a satin waistcoat, it probably looked rather impressive, "Oh, by jove, it's time for tea!"