pocket watch

Savonette with cathedral hands and luminescent dial made by Thos. Russell & Son (probably in the 1920s) A golden pocket watch with hunter-case and watch chain Pocket watches evolved from clock-watches, supposedly called Nuremberg eggs, worn on chains around the neck. Example by Peter Henlein, 1510, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg. X-ray video of a pocket stopwatch with a clear visible mechanics of the watch. Video was taken with 10 X-ray images per second. A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist.

They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatches became popular after World War I during which a transitional design, trench watches, were used by the military. Watches were also mounted on a short leather strap or fob, when a long chain would have been cumbersome or likely to catch on things. This fob could also provide a protective flap over their face and crystal. Women's watches were normally of this form, with a watch fob that was more decorative than protective. Pocket watches generally have an attached chain to allow them to be secured to a waistcoat, lapel, or belt loop, and to prevent them from being dropped.