The history of the watch goes back many years. The journey from when time pieces first began, to the modern day designer watches that we see in many a high end jewellery store is quite a long one. Watches were once seen as the most up to date invention there was. These days they are merely a fashion accessory which a lot of people choose to wear yet do not bother to look at to tell the time.

Watches were first derived from portable spring driven clocks way back in the 15th century. The invention of the mainspring is what makes the portable time piece possible. Many choose to believe that clockmaker Peter Henlein created the very first main spring in 1511. He is also credited for inventing pocket watches which were the original way to keep the time on one's self.

After the pocket watch came the wrist watch, which has ever since has been reinvented right up to the modern day where we now have a range of high quality watches that use the latest technology to help us tell the time. From the very first watch right up to the pieces we see today, you can see the many changes it has gone through. From design to creation, every part of the watch making process has been brought forward into the 21st century.

The very first wrist watch was produced in 1868 by Patek Phillipe. These were initially for German Naval Officers. Ordinary men were not yet wearing the time pieces, but plenty of women were seen adorning the wrist wear. In 1904 a Brazilian pilot asked his good friend Louis Cartier to create a watch that would time his performance while flying. Cartier came up with the Santos wristwatch which then went on sale to the public in 1911, thus beginning the Cartier line of designer watches.

Since the Santos piece was created, over the past 100 years the watch has undergone a transformation. Electric watches were produced in the 1950's and quartz pieces were seen in the late 1960's. The 1990's saw the very first radio controlled watch to go on sale.

These days watches are capable of many different tasks. Designer labels and high end brands constantly create collection after collection of time pieces and some are well-known for their time telling wrist wear that they continue to produce.

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