Velocipede RiderHere is yet another fun bit of watch trivia. Before World War I, wrist watches were considered a bit too dainty for men. They were considered more of a ladies accessory, often referred to as wristlets. Men typically carried pocket watches, which were seen as more masculine and refined.
One of the first men's wrist watches before the Great War was the Cartier "Santos" (a version of which Cartier still produce to this day). The original version was commissioned in 1904 by aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont because he was frustrated with pocket watches while piloting his aircraft. He needed something he could glance at without letting go of the controls.
So he asked friend and jeweller Louis Cartier to design a wrist watch he could wear while flying. Mass production began in 1911, when Cartier saw the potential and began producing the Santos for the public.
That is around the start of men's wrist watches but as I said before they really took off after the Great War. It was trench warfare that really changed things. Much like Santos, soldiers found it cumbersome to take a pocket watch in and out of their pocket frequently, which was needed as military manoeuvres were often precisely timed.
Some of the soldiers repurposed pocket watches by soldering or welding metal lugs onto the case. These lugs allowed them to attach straps and wear the watch directly on their wrist.
After the war this new trend continued with military men (the "manliest of men") continuing to wear wrist watches, making them acceptable for everyone.
To this day a lot of the styles of watch relate to their use in the military as tools. Field watches, pilot's watches. Even some dress watches, besides the Santos already mentioned Louis Cartier also designed the "Tank" in 1917, drawing direct influence from the look of the Renault FT-17 military tank, if viewed from above.
Luka RubinjoniIt's funny in a way as Cartier is often dismissed by some as being more about jewellery, rather than a "proper" watch maker but if you look at many of the design elements found in the Santos and Tank watches (which were copied by everyone to a large extent by being one of the first "wrist watch" manufacturers), they actually have as strong heritage as anyone currently making watches.
P.S. This is of course not to say they aren't big into jewellery! 🤣
Alex R@ruari maybe watches are jewellery. The Great Male Renunciation echoes to this day!
@alex Oh I agree they very much are jewellery when you look at the range of styles or polish and refinement many watches include. Additionally when you consider the reasons that people choose one watch over another (it is not always all about features). If someone has a watch they later decide is ugly they will either replace it or maybe just stop wearing a watch.
So they are jewellery, functional jewellery but jewellery nonetheless.
@alex Still at least modern, western society allows me this one thing that is deemed acceptable to for me as a CIS, white male to pimp myself up with.
Indeed, I notice that online forums for watches and YouTube reviewers are very male heavy. Perhaps it is because this is the one type of jewellery they are allowed to focus on. 🤔
@ruari Good point! And if there’s to be such a limited amount of socially-acceptable jewellery for us, at least watches have a lot of variety
@alex Yep, which is why for me the collection of identical (and boring) looking Apple watches that many wear these days, is so depressing. We all walk around with our eyes glued to a black slab. Now let's attach another boring black slab to our wrists.
And other than being generally rounder, I don't find most Android based watches a lot better to be honest.