Talk:Pocket watch

Birthday gift
It's my understanding that pocket watches are/were a traditional birthday gift in certain countries and at a certain age; I just can't for the life of me remember which ones. If this is in fact true, would someone who knows kindly add it to the "Popular culture" section? 81.68.152.27 (talk) 08:41, 19 December 2011 (UTC)
 * A wristwatch is often a birthday gift in many nations of current-day society.  It really has nothing to do with culture.  It is more a matter of income and affordability.  When Pocket Watches were still popular, then the birthday watch was a pocket watch.    Watches were for the rich man in the 1700s;  In the 1800s, it became a common item owned. 206.192.35.125 (talk) 20:47, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Untitled
I think the pop culture references section should include the infamous Christopher Walken scene in PULP FICTION.

It definitely should, and I also think that the rest of that section needs to be cut down. Is it really surprising that a pocket watch is in Titanic, a period piece?! ---Omicron91 13:39, 28 March 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Omicron91 (talk • contribs)

Pop culture references serve no purpose in this article. If you're an automobile enthusiast, are you going to add a long section of every car seen in every movie? 206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:25, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

This page states that the pocket watch was invented in 1510, yet it is listed on the page for the year 1502 as being invented then. Perhaps someone should look into this?
 * I think to say early 1500s is close enough.   If a collector could find one of those nuremberg egg watches, holy crap, it would be a nice find.  But how much money would one of those go for?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.192.35.125 (talk) 19:43, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Also, in the Watch article it states "In the In 1524, Peter Henlein created the first pocket watch", but doesn't list any decent references. I wonder if anyone has solid dates on this matter.

I have swapped around the first two paragraphs so the summary of the pocket watch's history comes after a description of it. I think it reads more easily like this.

I've made some changes to the distinction between open faced and hunter cased pocket watches. As it was open-faced watches were described as being called lepines and hunters a savonettes; In fact the term Lepine, actually l'Epine refers to a mid to late 18th century Swiss watchmaker who desiged a basic geometry of relative positions and sizes of the wheels of swiss cylinder and (later) lever movements. The term has nothing to do with the style or design of the case as lepine type movements, bar styles as well as 3/4 plate designs, are found in either hunter half-hunter or open-faced cases. The later stem wound movements where based on l'Epines design but are stricktly speaking not lepines because the geometry of the gears was redesigned, stricktly speaking lepines pocket-watches always have kew-wound movements en, with very few exceptions, where always of Swiss or French manufacture. No lepines type movements where ever produced in the United States. I'll work out a page specifically about l'Epine type watches and their development over the 125 odd years they where made. The words savonette is just the french (and italian) word for a hunter case watch.

more information please
Hi i know nothing about pocket watches so have come here to learn more, specifically what all the "jewel" stuff is about. what does 7 jewel, 14 jewel mean? and what is a fusee movement or a limit movement? anyone care to add more of that sort of info? thanks.Bawdekin 20:28, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
 * To answer your question: A watch naturally has gears.  The gears have to attach to something.  The gears each have a shaft that run through the center of each gear.   The gear shafts each attach at each end to the top and bottom plates of the movement.   The shaft ends would be metal rubbing on metal, and that is no good.  So the watchmakers of centuries ago, invented a jeweled design.   The ends of each gear shaft embed themselves into a tiny jewel. And the jewel is mounted in a small hole in the movement plate.   And when we say jewels, we mean actual jewels.  We're talking about very tiny pieces of ruby or saphire or some sort of gemstone, but too small to be worth anything.   The article gives a good discussion on jewels.  It just fails to break it down into those simplest terms.   206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:07, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

what direction does one wind the crown-wind pocket watch, are they all clockwise or are some anti-clockwise? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.148.106.12 (talk) 17:59, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Crown-wind pocket watches are always wound in a clockwise direction, turn the crown to the right, when looking down at the watch.

Yes, more information on "jewels" and brands would be nice, such as the Swiss brand Alsta. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.103.180.71 (talk) 03:55, 13 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I added a section on watch jewels to Mechanical watch, since it applied to more than pocketwatches. Jewels in antique pocketwatches before artificial sapphire was synthesized in 1902 were natural gems and very expensive.  Most watches had garnet, quartz, or even glass jewels; only the top quality had sapphire, ruby, or diamond.   Hope this helps.  -- Chetvorno TALK 23:42, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

What does this mean? "Also common are fasteners designed to be put through a buttonhole and worn in a jacket or waistcoat, this sort being frequently associated with and named after train conductors."

Named after train conductors in what way? Are they simply called "train conductors", or "train conductor watches"? Or maybe they're named after particular train conductors, e.g. "Fred Smith". --dudegalea (talk) 10:55, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

Turnip pocket watch
It redirects here, but this article does not describe what one is? Шизомби (talk) 23:20, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I second. I was curious just what a "turnip pocket watch" is, but the word "turnip" does not even appear in this article. 99.194.21.69 (talk) 00:52, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
 * At risk of dropping into Blackadder, it's a pocket watch that's shaped like a turnip. The case is unusually thick, relative to its diameter. Andy Dingley (talk) 08:51, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Case sizes
Mention is made of size 16 or 18 railroad watches. Some information on pocket watch sizes would be appropriate and very helpful in this article. What do these numbers (16, 18) mean specificly? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tonygumbrell (talk • contribs) 18:44, 2 February 2009 (UTC)


 * The different watch sizes each correspond to a specific watch diameter size. Each size converts to a watch diameter measured in milimeters.   Off the top of my head, I am aware there is sizes 18, 16, 12, 10, 6, 0.   206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:10, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Digital pocket watches


The first digital watches were pocket watches. Please consider how to include this piece of information. Randroide (talk) 18:39, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Double Hunter
Perhaps someone could add a section on double hunter watches or add it to the existing hunter section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ali Basheer (talk • contribs) 16:36, 5 June 2010 (UTC)


 * If somebody adds that info, then you need to expand it with information on Box Hinge cases.206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:28, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Men's Fashion
I think the part of the article that says "However, in the U.S.A. for most men, most of the time, a pocket watch must be carried in a hip pocket" makes no sense. Men in the US either wear watches on their wrists, or they have cellphones/PDA's that can tell time. Why would you put a wristwatch in a pocket? Aliceembers (talk) 21:02, 28 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Your question makes absolutely no sense.  Yes, a pocket watch must be carried in a hip pocket.  Or it can be carried in a vest pocket.   Thats why its called a pocket watch.   A wristwatch is worn on the wrist.  Thats why a wristwatch is called a wristwatch.    What part of that do you not understand?????  A wristwatch has lugs for attaching a wristband.  A pocket watch does not have any lugs for attaching a wristband.   The watch was invented in the 1500s;  The concept of wearing a watch on the wrist was not invented until the beginning of the 20thc, or maybe in the 1890s.  A pocket watch, and a wristwatch are two differently designed items.   And one misconception that annoys me:  Some people see a pocket watch, and call it a stop-watch.   A stop-watch sometimes looks like a pocket watch, but a stop-watch and a pocket-watch are two different things.  A stop-watch has a dial with 0 to 60, and a needle for timing something.  A stop watch does not have  normal hours and seconds hands.  Although a chronometer wristwatch is a normal watch with a stopwatch function also.    206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:21, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Types of Movements
I slightly edited the sections on keywind movements, and stemwind movements. I added some general information on fusees. An article on pocket watches has to have some basic mention of fusee chains, which were the predecessor to the balance wheel. 206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:13, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

I edited the discussion on fusees. Nearly all fusee watches have balance wheels, and most after 1700 or so have hairsprings. A fusee just serves to give more consistent balance wheel amplitude and thus more consistent timekeeping-it does not replace the balance wheel and in fact is located at the opposite end of the watch train. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.165.208.231 (talk) 14:25, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Watch chains
Thanks to those who wrote the section on jewels... Found it really useful and informative. But could someone also add a section on watch chains? Since watch chain redirects here, there really ought to be at least a little material on it. --Dakinijones (talk) 09:21, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Can Wikipedia add a section or reference to the Longitude Prize?
It requires a precise knowledge of the time of day, to calculate navigational longitude from a sextant. British Parliament established the Longitude Prize, and it was won by John Harrison, with a version of the pocket watch.

From memory and inference, efforts to improve accuracy prior to Harrison's gambit had concentrated on larger gears, for comparatively smaller tolerances, and longer pendulums. Big Ben was a successful example. These had been impossible to adapt to the motion of a ship at sea.

The pocket watch had a radically smaller oscillation, and so its accuracy was not compromised by ocean swells. The pocket watch solved the problem for economic trade, although explorers such as Magellan and Christopher Columbus had already conquered the greatest voyages of discovery.

Infodater (talk) 21:45, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
 * The story is told in Marine chronometer and History of longitude. The precision timepieces used on shipboard for determining longitude were called marine chronometers. Many of the technical advances that were invented in the 1700s to increase the accuracy of marine chronometers, such as temperature-compensated balance wheels, were later used in pocket watches.   -- Chetvorno TALK 22:11, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:06, 8 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Pocket Watch (Savonette).jpg

Railroad watches
The article claims that railroad-grade pocket watches of the late 19th century were required to keep time with a "maximum variation of 30 seconds (approximately 4 seconds daily) per weekly check." This is highly unlikely, and probably physically impossible. Even very expensive full-size mechanical clocks (like the kind used on ships' bridges in WWII, still sold new for about $2,000) gain or lose up to 60 seconds per week. Pocket watches are less accurate. Modern 17-jewel mechanical pocket watches generally gain/lose about 40 seconds per day. Therefore, it is far more likely that a high-quality pocket watch of the late 19th century would gain/lose 30 seconds per *day* not per week. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Xanthis2 (talk • contribs) 22:20, 1 November 2021 (UTC)


 * This is just not true. 30 seconds a week is correct for the railway specs. I own a Hamilton 992B that was my grandfather's and it's usually no more than 60 seconds off in a month. The 1939 specs on this watch call for no more than 5 seconds mean daily variation. Here is a guy who claims his 992B was off only 1.4 seconds in three months, with a max deviation of 15 seconds: GA-RT-22 (talk) 06:20, 25 December 2023 (UTC)