Standing the test of time THE TIME TO CARRY TIME

THE ABILITY to mark the passage of time has been long qualified as one of the greatest achievements unique to mankind. From the earliest civilizations taking inspiration from heavenly bodies to modern-day folks ultimately crafting portable devices, timeke

A STEP BACK IN TIME

History says that the Egyptians were among the first to find out how to divide days into hours. During the 3500 B. C., obelisks were widely present around Egypt, and these structures were believed to have functioned as predecessors of sundial clocks.

Around 2000-1500 B.C., the Egyptians devised the 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime method. They had a T-shaped bar fixed in the ground that was calibrated to separate the interval between sunrise and sunset into 12 parts. People that time initially thought that sunlit and dark periods were two contradicting dimensions rather than part of the same day, but eventually established the 24-hours-in-a-day concept.

As sundials — given the obvious reason, among others — were no use at night, water clocks came to the rescue. Their invention has been also largely credited to the Egyptians, who created water clocks made from pottery, stone, or copper around 1550-1295 B.C.

The following years saw the development of various tools to keep track of time. These included the Chinese oil lamps that enabled measuring the passing of time by calculating the oil reservoir level; marked candle clocks and incense clocks that were also used in China; and the hourglasses or sandglasses, which were primarily brought about by the emergence of the glass-blowing technology and which became popular in the 14th century.

Before long, mechanical clocks took away the spotlight from the hourglasses and the water clocks, which were regarded then as the most accurate timekeeper. Composed of a series of pulleys, counterweights and bells, mechanical clocks unfortunately were inclined to be inaccurate, sometimes losing half an hour or more on any given day. This had been the case until the discovery of the pendulum in 1594 by Galileo Galilei. He, however, was not able to apply this to improve the workings of mechanical clocks.

In 1656, a Dutch man named Christiaan Huygens studied Galileo’s theory and through it was able to produce the first pendulum clock, which was considered many times more precise than other time- telling objects. Pendulum clocks were then mass produced, leading to their presence in other parts of the world. Not too long after, however, the need for portability began to arise.

Paving the way for the production of portable clocks was the invention in 1400 of the main spring, the so-called “power plant” of a mechanical watch.

It is said that portable clocks or pocket watches got their new name “watches” from “watchmen” who, as the ones responsible for watching over their city, worked in shifts and thus needed to be mindful of the passing hours so they would employ any means to tell the time. Another theory is that the term “watch” was derived from sailors who used maritime portable clocks to time their four- hour shifts on deck or “watches.”

With the main spring finally invented, it was made possible for the unwieldy clock to be held in just one’s hand. Still and all, these devices were still fairly large to fit into pockets that people, particularly women, treated them more as pendants or exquisite pieces of jewelry. Men, on the other hand, used to fasten them to their waistcoats, a practice that was kept until the early 20th century.

During this period, these timepieces were more of a status symbol and worn only by the rich. They also just had hour hands and still were sometimes inaccurate in telling time.

THE INTRODUCTION OF THE WRISTWATCH

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the first wristwatch was made in 1868 by Swiss watch manufacturer Patek Philippe for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary. It added that although it was the first timepiece that was designed to be worn around the wrist, it was basically used as jewelry.

Before the 20th century, wristwatches were viewed more as pieces of decorative jewelry that should be part of women fashion only. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914 though, a drastic shift in this perspective ensued. Wristwatches proved themselves truly valuable in modern warfare, as those in the military realized the impracticability of the old style pocket watch especially when accurate timing was of extreme importance.

Since then, wearing wristwatch has been commonplace for both men and women alike. And with the advent of modern technology, watchmakers and designers are sure to continue providing high-quality wristwatches, in a wide range of price points and styles.