Wristwatch/Main Page Version

A wristwatch is a timepiece designed to be worn around the wrist, held on by a band. Modern wristwatches are often referred to simply as "watches", and are mostly electronic, despite having either an analog or digital appearance. There are wristwatches that are still entirely mechanical but because of the higher manufacturing and maintenance cost, these are becoming more rare and are considered "luxury items" or "antiques".

Brief history of timekeeping
At some point in civilization (approximately 5000-6000 years ago ), it became important for Middle Easterners and Northern Africans to start managing time more efficiently.

The reasons for wanting to keep time, though, are speculative at best; but it should be noted that even early man may have done things during times of daylight and night. Hunting game, for example, was probably best done during the hours of which man could see and track his prey.

The earliest device for dividing time into units, the obelisk, was possibly created by the Egyptians around 3500 BC (although the Sumerians may have had a similar structure). It projected observable change in units throughout the day with a moving shadow that indicated the positional change of the sun. A similar device, the shadow clock, came into existence around 1500 BC and was divided into quantifiable, measureable units to determine time of day. The shadow clock divided the day into ten sections with two sections allocating whether the sun was setting or rising. At the midpoint of the day, the device was rotated, demonstrating an early way of dividing up morning(AM) and afternoon(PM).

Meanwhile, in other places around the world, different mechanisms were used to keep time. However, most were based on the rate of of water flowing over time. The greek word clepsydras ("water thieves") was used around 325 BC to describe stone vessels that were shaped so that water could flow out at a rate that would fill another marked vessel. Instead of relying on celestial positions, they suffered accuracy: water is subject to the environment, and it was extremely difficult to measure in accurate quantities.

Evolution of mechanical time
In the early 14th century, large mechanical clocks were invented and used in cities across Italy. They were driven by weights, and were regulated by a verge-and-foliot escapement. This method of regulating time did not change over 300 years until the invention of spring-powered clocks by Peter Henlein, somewhere between 1500 and 1510, in Nuremburg. This was the first key component allowing better, portable clocks. Henlein was also the man to create the first portable watch. His occupation as a locksmith made him a mechanic and also a toolsmith; this gave him experience in crafting small, operational mechanisms.