Got a minute? We want to show you how the wristwatch has been transformed from a utilitarian accessory into an ubiquitous-and, at the same time, very stylish-one.
”Swatch`s production just passed the 100 million mark a few months ago,” reports Liz Tonto, a spokeswoman for the company, one of the first to make fashion watches fun and remarkably affordable. Not bad, considering the Swiss-based firm was founded just 10 years ago. In her five years on the job in the company`s New York office, Tonto owns up to acquiring about 250 of the ever-changing time-tellers.
Of course, Tonto is ”in the business,” but she firmly believes that
”the wristwatch is the most worn piece of jewelry in existence. They make a major fashion statement and impart status,” she says. And as Rick Eckert, the proprietor of the Chicago watch shop Spare Time, points out, ”even when they`re frivolous, they`re always functional.”
Perhaps this accounts for the vast range of wristwatch styles. Today`s watches are fancy or funky, elegant or austere and are geared to every conceivable activity. Some have a gimmick and are laden with all sorts of special features (like a multifunction model with a compass), and others are so decorative that it`s hard to distinguish them from jewelry.
But the bottom line is they all tell time, no matter how hard some of the more fashion-forward pieces may be to read.
Ironically, the origins of the wrist-worn watch have more to do with frivolity than function. In ”Twentieth Century Wristwatches” by George Gordon ($180, available from the Antique Collectors` Club, 1-800-252-5231), Patek Philippe, the acclaimed Swiss-based watchmaking company, is cited as having created the first wristwatch in 1868. It was a square model mounted on an elaborately jeweled bracelet for a Hungarian countess.
According to the book, up until 1880, wristwatch production involved making one-of-a-kind pieces that were primarily ladies` bracelets with a watch attached. But the Imperial German Navy changed all of that by commissioning practical, though still experimental, timepieces to strap on its officers`
wrists that year. No more fumbling for their pocketwatches-these guys had work to do.
In fact, the numerous armed conflicts at the beginning of the 20th Century helped establish the wristwatch as an essential part of field equipment. It was a necessity-firing a gun and glancing at a timepiece tucked inside a vest weren`t compatible activities. Furthermore, some of the modifications made to the wristwatch for military purposes, like the use of stronger casings and sturdier movements, helped make it far more popular than the pocketwatch with the general public.
But it was World War I that elevated the wristwatch to glory, and countless makes and models have proliferated since that time.
Back for seconds
Eckert believes that ”today the watch has become a craze. Everybody wears one, but you can have two or three and not go overboard.”
Toby Glickman, co-owner of Elements in Chicago, finds ”the phenomenon amazing-watches become a part of your personality, and you can change them to match your moods.” But she also maintains that ”pricey designs that were extremely contemporary or unusual were popular several years ago. Today`s watches are cleaner (in terms of their graphic design) because of cost, or far more reasonable if they`re on the wilder side.”
June Blaker, owner of her namesake, contemporary-leaning boutique in River North, also finds that today`s more avant-garde timepieces carry humbler prices. She currently stocks a British line of stainless steel watches that are best described as ”high-tech with a twist” since most of the models have moving attachments; all are surprisingly reasonably priced-from $50 to $125.
”These have `niche appeal,` ” says Blaker. ”A lot of men are buying them as a fashion accessory, which is significant because jewelry for men is a very odd and hard to define category.” But not with the wristwatch around, for as Blaker believes, ”it can be an exceptional-and inexpensive-fashion accessory.” –
