Pocket Watch Guide

What is a Pocket Watch?

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the pocket watch is defined as “a watch on a chain, intended to be carried in the pocket of a jacket or vest.” The pocket watch, sometimes also spelled “pocketwatch”, was first invented in the early 15th century. In fact, Peter Henlien, originally a master locksmith, was a notable pocket watch maker around the year 1524.

Initially, pocket watches were worn around the neck – and devices were fairly big compared to their size today and in recent history. Some estimate that it took only one century for watch wearers to begin wearing their watch in a pocket.

The growing popularity of pocket watches was one major factor in their increased production and usage through out the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It wasn’t before long before they truly became a staple in societies around the world.

Pocket watch types vary, from key-wind and key-set watch movements (the first pocket watches used this movement); crown-wind, crown-set movements, created in the 1800’s by Patek-Philippe; crown-wind, lever-set movements, which were mandatory on all railroad pocket watches; and crown-wind pin-set movements.

Pocketwatches saw increased usage along with the age of railroading during the late 1800’s. They became a standard piece of equipment among all rail workers, as implemented in 1887 by the American Railway Association. The association set certain standards for the type of watch worn, including size, number of jewels, position adjustment, time accuracy, and other measures. This system was so highly regarded by the Railway Association that members were often subject to surprise checks from their superiors – and a failure to keep your pocket watch in satisfactory working order most often meant disciplinary action.

Unfortunately, the reshaping of American fashion meant the eventual twilight of the pocket watch. However, the pocket watch was still a societal staple through the early 1900’s, as most considered the wrist watch (the latest in “watch fashion” in that day) to be feminine. New military standards in 1914 helped promote the decline of the pocket watch. Soldiers in World War I, as well as their officers, agreed that a watch worn on the wrist was more accessible and easier to keep clean and tidy than using a pocket watch.

As many members of society, military personnel included, moved toward the use of a wrist watch versus the traditional pocket watches, railroaders remained true to their roots by using the pocket watch in their every day activities.