First Wristwatch: Historical Timeline, Key Inventors, And Companies

First Wristwatch

It is common knowledge that the earliest wrist-worn timepieces evolved from pocket watches. They appeared as custom timepieces well before mass production. In the 1810s to 1860s, watchmakers adapted small movements to bracelets and straps, creating elegant designs worn mainly by women. The concept of time on the wrist instead of the pocket, already existed, but wasn’t a universal habit yet. In these early decades of wrist-worn timepieces, the priority was on aesthetic refinement rather than rugged utility.

There have been frequent debates on the topic of which house delivered the “first” wristwatch. Some historians reference early 19th century bracelet watches worn by European royalty while others point to later better documented commissions by prominent Swiss maisons. Because documentation is incomplete and terminology varies (bracelet watch, wristlet, bangle watch), it is more accurate to treat the wristwatch as an evolving format that appeared in several places and forms rather than a single, discrete invention stamped with one date and one name.

Practical needs like aviation, war and industry moved time from the pocket to the wrist. Soldiers first strapped pocket watches to bands and then, purpose-built wristwatches followed. By the 1920s and 1930s, they were mass-made and fashionable thereby boosting punctuality, and making the wristwatch suitable for both everyday use and personal style. Modern inventors like SÖNER Watches are blending modernity with traditional design.

When Were Wristwatches Invented?

Before wristwatches were used everyday, they began as bespoke jewelry adapted from pocket-watch movements. The outline below shows how curiosity evolved amid different firsts, and finally into a universal format:

In the early decades of the 1800s, aesthetic refinement greatly outweighed rugged ability. The wristwatch existed in the 19th century, but the modern wristwatch was made in the early 20th century. Because records are patchy and terms vary, it’s more accurate to treat the wristwatch as an evolving format, rather than a single invention tied to one maker or date.

Who Invented Wristwatches?

Who “invented” the wristwatch is disputed, but a handful of makers were pivotal. Their combined efforts moved timekeeping from jeweled curiosity to an indispensable, hands-free tool. There is no single inventor. Instead, a string of watchmakers experimented with form and function across the 19th century. Some attributions you may encounter include early bracelet watches linked to European queens and countesses, as well as experimental pieces by Swiss houses adapting miniature movements to new cases. But because several makers were active and because many pieces were one-off commissions, no solitary figure can claim exclusive credit.

The most commonly cited pioneers include:

• Abraham-Louis Breguet who is often credited with an 1810-1812 wristwatch for Caroline Murat.
• Patek Philippe who made an 1868 bracelet watch for Countess Koscowicz.
• Girard-Perregaux, who is associated with 1880s officer wristwatches
• Louis Cartier & Alberto Santos-Dumont (1904) who advanced purpose-built wristwatches with clear dial, square case, and strap, popularizing everyday wear.

One reason the question persists is that the definition of “wristwatch” shifted over time. A gem-set bracelet concealing a small dial clearly counts today, yet 19th-century catalogs sometimes treated those items as jewelry rather than watches. Meanwhile, converted pocket watches with soldered lugs were worn on the wrist, even if their DNA remained pocket-born. The invention, therefore, is best seen as a convergence.

Together, these milestones established the wristwatch’s legacy: precise time, always in view, enabling coordination in aviation, war, and industry. The breakthrough was wearability, improving legibility under stress, and accelerating the shift from pocket to wrist in modern life.

Which Company Made The First Wristwatch?

Attribution is complex, but many standard histories credit Breguet with the first wristwatch: a bracelet watch commissioned in 1810 for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples. The original is lost, but Breguet’s archives record the order. A second pillar is Patek Philippe, which produced one of the earliest documented wristwatches in 1868 for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary. Multiple maisons were experimenting around the same time, so this is better seen as a parallel invention than a first one. These high-end commissions legitimized the wrist-worn format at the haute horlogerie level, proving its feasibility and desirability long before factories standardized it. After that, industrialization and wartime needs, and later sport and aviation, pushed wristwatches into rugged, everyday instruments and mass adoption.

Today, Breguet, now part of the Swatch Group, actively trades on that heritage; the Reine de Naples line is a modern nod to the Murat commission while Patek Philippe remains an independent Geneva maison, renowned for high-complication wristwatches. Together, their early work anchors much of the prestige narrative of the modern wristwatch, from aristocratic bracelet curiosities to the indispensable daily timekeeper.

When Did Wristwatches Become Popular?

Mainstream popularity surged in the 1910s-1920s. During World War I, soldiers found pocket watches impractical in the field but wristwatches enabled quick, hands-free checks amid mud, gloves, and darkness. Early aviation like the Cartier’s Santos (1904) made for aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, also helped. Post-war, returning soldiers normalized wristwatches in civilian life. By the late 1920s, the wristwatch had largely supplanted the pocket watch for daily use. Manufacturers capitalized with luminous numerals, protective bezels, and stronger straps.

Beyond practicality, fashion momentum mattered. As lifestyles grew more mobile, a compact, stylish wristwatch fit the mood of modernity. Department stores promoted them as ideal gifts, magazines showed celebrities wearing them, and improvements like shock-protection and water resistance helped them endure everyday knocks. The wristwatch had finally escaped the waistcoat and joined the rhythm of modern life.

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Who Made Wristwatches Popular?

• Military forces, especially in World War I: Trench warfare made luminous strap wristwatches standard for men.
• Aviation pioneers: Santos-Dumont and Lindbergh proved wristwatches essential for pilots.
• Early society tastemakers: Patek Philippe and Cartier made bracelet watches chic among European elites.
• Brand-led public endorsements: Rolex Oyster, Pan Am GMT-Master, and NASA’s Omega Speedmaster turned tools into icons.
• Cinema and celebrity style: Bond’s Submariner, McQueen’s Monaco, Newman’s Daytona, Elvis’s Ventura, and Diana’s Tank fueled demand.
• Manufacturers responding to demand: Brands boosted legibility and durability and defined pilot, field, diver, and chronograph types.
• Impact on watch fashion: Wristwatches became universal accessories with larger cases, metal bracelets, and distinct dress, dive, and racing styles.

Did Cartier Invent The Wristwatch?

Cartier did not invent the wristwatch. Purpose built wristwatches existed decades earlier, including Breguet’s piece for Caroline Murat in 1810 to 1812, Patek Philippe’s bracelet watch in 1868, and military wristlets such as Girard-Perregaux pieces supplied to German naval officers in the 1880s. By the 20th century, ladies’ wristlets and improvised trench conversions were already in circulation.

Cartier’s contribution was to define the modern, elegant wristwatch and help normalize it for men. In 1904 Louis Cartier created the Santos with aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont so he could read the time in flight without fumbling for a pocket watch. Cartier commercialized the model in 1911.

Cartier then expanded the design vocabulary with distinctive shaped watches. The Tonneau appeared in 1906, the Tortue in 1912, and the Tank in 1917. The SÖNER Rectangular Watches are a good alternative to the Cartier Tank.

Why Were Wristwatches Invented?

Wristwatches emerged to solve a simple, practical problem: people needed instant, hands-free access to time in situations where digging out a pocket watch was slow, awkward, or unsafe. As those needs grew especially in the early 20th century, wristwatches became the better tool and eventually the norm.

A wrist glance delivers faster, safer, hands-free time checks, keeps time constantly visible for coordination, aligns naturally with our line of sight, and stays secure during movement for reliable reading in motion.

On battlefields, in cockpits and on bridges, in wards, rail yards, engineering sites, and city streets, users needed instant, legible timing for synchronization, headings and fuel checks, pulses and procedures, signals and schedules, and driving or cycling without fishing out a pocket watch.

Mass wartime use, changing clothing and punctuality norms, and advances in movements, oils, shock-protection, sealed cases, wire lugs, screw-down crowns, and deployant clasps made wristwatches tough, accurate, and fashionable, turning them from niche tools into everyday essentials.

Once design and technology optimized watches for the wrist and modern life and war demanded instant readability, the wristwatch decisively outperformed the pocket watch for everyday use.

Significant Milestones In Wristwatch Features

• Waterproofing (1920s):Rolex Oyster 1926 with screw-down crown and hermetic case proved daily water resistance. Better sealing drove advances in crystals, gaskets, and casebacks.
• Self-winding (1920s to 1930s):John Harwood’s 1923 invention led to the first serial automatic wristwatch in 1928. Bumper systems evolved into full rotors, reducing wear on mainsprings and enabling sealed cases.
• Antimagnetic and shock-protection (1930s):Tissot Antimagnetique 1930 and Incabloc 1934 increased reliability as everyday shocks from modern life and sport grew.
• Chronographs and alarms (mid 20th century):Wrist chronographs matured for pilots and racers. Vulcain Cricket 1947 brought the first widely adopted wrist alarm; JLC Memovox followed in 1950. These turned watches into personal tools.
• Dive watches (1950s):Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 1953 and Rolex Submariner 1953 set standards such as rotating bezel, luminous dials, and rated depth, shaping modern sports design.
• Quartz revolution (1969 onward):Seiko Astron 35SQ 1969 delivered unmatched accuracy and low maintenance, transforming production and pricing.
• Digital and smart eras (1970s to today):Hamilton Pulsar 1972 LED and later LCDs added new displays. Modern smartwatches integrate sensors, notifications, and apps, expanding the wrist from timekeeper to wearable computer.

What Did The Earliest Wristwatch Look Like?

Early wristwatches were miniature pocket watches adapted for the wrist.They had:

• Cases: Small round or oval, with soldered wire lugs or integrated bracelets. Gold or silver was common, with hand engraving or guilloché.
• Dials: Fired enamel or metal with elegant Roman or Breguet-style numerals and a minute track. Some were jeweled and protected by hinged covers or guards.
• Hands: Slim and often blued steel for contrast.
• Straps and bracelets: Fine chain or jeweled bracelets for ladies; ribbon or leather for utilitarian conversions and early men’s models.
• Crystals: Mineral glass, often domed. Field pieces sometimes used metal shrapnel guards to prevent breakage.
• Crowns: Usually small at 3 o’clock, though converted pocket movements could place the crown at 12 or 2.

These earlier timepieces have had an influence on modern watches. Wire lugs became today’s standard lug geometry. Enamel dials and blued hands remain classic design cues. Domed crystals live on in modern sapphire. The push for clear typography and luminous paint established the legible, purpose driven tool watch style used in field, pilot, and dive watches.

Who Was The First Person To Wear A Wristwatch?

Most historians credit Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, as the earliest documented wearer. In 1810 she commissioned Abraham-Louis Breguet to create a watch for the wrist, delivered in 1812. The piece married a small movement to a bracelet, showing that time could be read with a quick glance and turning timekeeping into personal ornament.

Public reaction in the 1800s treated wristwatches as fashionable jewelry for women, while men largely stuck with pocket watches and often viewed wristwear as delicate. Perception changed when Alberto Santos-Dumont asked Louis Cartier in 1904 for a practical watch he could consult in flight, linking the format to modern technology and utility for men. World War I then exposed millions of soldiers to wrist-worn timekeeping. Veterans brought the habit home, shifting the wristwatch from novelty to everyday tool.

From Murat’s courtly commission to mass adoption, the wristwatch evolved through prestige, practicality, and public proof.