Text Max MONTRE | PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CHAPTER №X »STATE OF THE ART« — SUMMER 2023/24
In the long and incredibly varied history of the wristwatch, there have always been developments that have set new standards in terms of both technology and design. We take a look at some of the most outstanding models and innovations in watch history.
Looking at the development of the wristwatch, the 20th century in particular was a period of dramatic and rapid change, »in which the watch transformed itself into almost every conceivable form«, as Daryn Schnipper, head of the international watch department at the renowned auction house Sotheby’s, points out. An era that brought us a whole series of innovations that are considered state of the art today. In terms of cultural history, the reinterpretation of the wristwatch from feminine to masculine is particularly significant. (Even if these categories are increasingly disappearing again today.) It is important to bear in mind that, firstly, the history of the wristwatch does not begin in the 20th century, but long before, and that, secondly, it was initially conceived for a female clientele. The Queen of Naples, Caroline Murat, was one of the customers of the ingenious watchmaker and inventor Abraham-Louis Breguet. We have him to thank for the tourbillon, among other things. Caroline Murat’s wristwatch is considered to be the first ever documented. The Breguet company archives state: »One of Breguet’s most brilliant and certainly most practical inventions––the wristwatch––was, paradoxically, completely ignored by his contemporaries.« However, documents from this period prove beyond doubt that Breguet was commissioned by the Queen of Naples on June 8, 1810 to design the first known wristwatch, Breguet watch no. 2639.
With the angular form, the wristwatch once emancipated itself from the Pocket watch. Cartier has remained true to this geometry to this day with the Santos de Cartier Dual Time, a new launch at Watches & Wonders 2024.
1810––more than a hundred years before the wristwatch proved its practicality in the trenches of the First World War and found itself on more and more men’s wrists. It was only then that it really broke away from its feminine image and began to challenge the pocket watch for its dominant position. The Santos from Cartier is a pioneering example of these developments. With its square case, it emancipated itself visually from the traditional round shape of the pocket watch. Louis Cartier created it for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviation pioneer who was living in Paris at the time. He set a world aviation record in 1906. Two years earlier, Santos-Dumont had already complained to Cartier. The pocket watch was far too impractical and he had to fiddle around in his jacket pocket while flying. Without further ado, Louis Cartier designed the world’s first pilot’s watch for him, even if it was fundamentally different from the timepieces we file away in this category today. Or to take it even further: The Santos was one of the first wristwatches for men.
It later gave rise to the Santos de Cartier collection, which the French watch and jewelry giant continues to update to this day––without, however, changing its iconic basic shape. This also makes it one of the longest-running lines in watchmaking history. Its design was pioneering: a square dial, visible screws and a strap that fits snugly and does not restrict the wrist’s freedom of movement. In 1911, the Santos was also made accessible to a wider, albeit wealthy, public.
It is a child of its time. The square shape can be seen as a reminiscence of the geometric aesthetics popular in Paris at the time. It can be seen as a symbol of the design revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. Cubism, Futurism: after all, aesthetics were also rethought in the fin de siècle.
A timelessly elegant classic: the Oyster Perpetual Datejust from Rolex. It was once the first automatic wristwatch with a date window on the dial.
At around the same time as Santos-Dumont and Cartier were working in Paris, a native of Bavaria named Hans Wilsdorf registered a brand name that is still synonymous with luxury watches today: Rolex. The watch world owes a large number of innovations that are standard today to this name. In 1914, Wilsdorf made a momentous request: »We must find a way to develop a waterproof wristwatch.« It was addressed to the company Aegler in Biel, which would later become Manufacture des Montres Rolex S.A.
Rolex first launched the Submarine, not to be confused with the later Submariner, in 1922. This wristwatch was hinged to a second case whose water-resistance was based on a bezel screwed to the middle section, on which the crystal was mounted. For all operations on the winding crown––to wind the movement or set the time––the outer case had to be opened. The Submarine marked the first step in Hans Wilsdorf’s development work to build a completely waterproof and user-friendly wristwatch case. As a result of this research, the Oyster case was patented four years later in 1926. This case––hermetically sealed thanks to a system of bezel, case back and winding crown screwed to the middle section––now protected the inside of the wristwatch against external influences. Wilsdorf chose the name Oyster for this wristwatch, as well as for its case, as it »can lie in water indefinitely like an oyster without damaging the movement«. A milestone in the history of watchmaking. The following year, the entrepreneur set about advertising the exceptional qualities of the Oyster in an original way. When he learned that Mercedes Gleitze, a young secretary from Brighton, England, wanted to swim across the English Channel and, if successful, would be the first British woman to achieve this feat, he asked her if she would like to wear an Oyster to prove the absolute waterproofness of the watch. After surviving the ordeal in the icy waters of the English Channel, a journalist from the British daily newspaper The Times wrote: »Miss Gleitze was carrying a small gold wristwatch that worked perfectly throughout her time in the water.«
The hermetically sealed Oyster case, patented in 1926, has been a symbol of Rolex wristwatches ever since. As already mentioned, it consists of a bezel, a case back and a winding crown, which are screwed to the middle section. Over the course of time, these components were further developed, one of the aims being to increase the water resistance of the wristwatch and thus respond to the needs of divers, who were able to reach ever greater depths thanks to modern diving equipment and techniques.
In 1931, Rolex developed the automatic winding mechanism that turned the Oyster into an Oyster Perpetual. The self-winding rotor later established itself as the industry standard in the watch sector. On the occasion of the company’s 40th anniversary, Rolex created a new watch that would combine all of the company’s previous successes––Oyster case, automatic rotor and chronometer precision: the Datejust. It was the first automatic wristwatch with a date window on the dial. Ten years later, Rolex introduced another icon: the Submariner, the archetype of the diver’s watch.
Navitimer B12 Chronographe 41 Cosmonaute: The latest version of Breitling’s Navitimer with 24-hour time display, naturally with the iconic slide rule bezel.
Two years before the Submariner, a timepiece saw the light of day that was to join the ranks of watch icons almost immediately: the Navitimer from Breitling. »It’s obvious, isn’t it … navigation and timer, a record of the passage of time … but also a clever choice of name«, judges Michael Balfour in his book Kult-Uhren. From 1952 to the present day, it can look back on an uninterrupted success story.
What makes the chronograph so extraordinary is an additional function that fired the imagination at a time when flying was still a luxury: a rotating bezel that serves as a slide rule. This enabled pilots to carry out all the necessary flight calculations. Ultimately, this feature made the Navitimer unmistakable and unique. The now slightly hackneyed phrase form follows function applies here in the best sense of the word. Speaking of state of the art, function and design: The second pusher, without which no chronograph is complete today, is the work of Longines.
In any case, the Navitimer demonstrates that a »smart« additional function, then as now, does not necessarily have to play a role in the user’s everyday life. And how a »tool watch« conceived as a commodity can become a lifestyle product.
As an affordable homage to the Omega Moonwatch, Swatch launched the Bioceramic MoonSwatch collection in 2022. This was followed in April 2024 by the Bioceramic MoonSwatch Mission to the Moonphase – New Moon with Snoopy on the moon phase.
The Navitimer ‘s fan base grew at the latest when it appeared on the big screen in James Bond’s »Thunderball« in 1965. However, the practical functions were of little interest to them. And even famous aficionados such as jazz legend Miles Davis or chansonnier Serge Gainsbourg probably didn’t use their wristwatch to calculate ascent rates or altitude difference. Current wearers of the pilot’s watch probably don’t either.
Ultimately, it is what the watch stands for. The Moonwatch from Omega is a good example of this. Originally intended as a sports watch, the Speedmaster was the first wristwatch in history to land on the moon in 1969. A coincidence, if you like, and the dream of every marketing department. In recent years and months, the hype surrounding the MoonSwatch has shown just how much the cult of the »Speedy« has blossomed. A quartz chronograph with the typical features of the Speedmaster, the result of a collaboration between Omega and Swatch. Mostly young watch fans around the world queued for hours to get their hands on one of the coveted timepieces. If that isn’t proof of the nimbus that the »Speedy« still has decades after its launch.
Omega’s Speedmaster Moonwatch, one of the most iconic chronographs in history, in its latest edition: this time with a white lacquered dial inspired by space exploration and the collection’s famous heritage.
While the world stared spellbound at the moon, 1969 brought an innovation that was in no way inferior to the moon landing––at least in the watch industry: after seven years of development work, El Primero saw the light of day. It was the first automatic chronograph caliber in history. Several players wanted to claim this success, including Seiko and the Chronomatic Group, which at the time still included such illustrious names as Breitling, Heuer and Dubois Dépraz. Zenith finally made it: El Primero, »the first«, was a masterpiece whose heart beat at 36,000 semi-oscillations and still does today. A high-speed oscillator that was to lead the watch industry into a new era of precise timekeeping. Rolex, for example, also relied on the caliber for its chronographs for a long time.
What Zenith achieved on the technical side, Gérald Genta achieved on the design side: In 1970, the (self-titled) first watch designer in the world created a design that is still causing a sensation today. He designed a completely new, waterproof sports watch for Audemars Piguet. One that would stand out from the crowd of boring gold wristwatches that were always the same. In less than 24 hours, he designed the Royal Oak: corners, polished and patinated edges, the octagonal bezel fastened with visible hexagonal screws, integrated bracelet, no two links alike. What had previously been sealed and hidden suddenly became the focal point of the design, creating an unmistakable, exciting accent. Two years later, the Nautilus followed for Patek Philippe. Also an icon. Then came the »quartz crisis«, which almost brought down the mechanical watch and the entire industry. With the »quartz revolution«, triggered by the Astron 35SQ from Seiko, the timepiece had become a generally affordable commodity. On the positive side, the (electronic) wristwatch was democratized – to put it bluntly, it became a disposable product. And the mechanical wristwatch became a luxury product. Ironically, it was the success of a very inexpensive quartz watch, the Swatch and the group of the same name, that laid the foundation for the renaissance of the analog watch.
Sales of mechanical watches picked up again from the mid-1980s in the middle and upper price segments due to the preference of many for the aesthetic and comprehensible mechanism. »Many watch manufacturers returned to their relevant tradition and triggered an unparalleled boom«, as the internationally renowned watch expert Gisbert L. Brunner sums up. Audemars Piguet, for example, launched the first series-produced tourbillon for the wrist in 1986. The total height of just 4.8 millimetres was achieved by using the case back as the movement plate.
The next chapter in of the history of the Freak: the Freak S Nomad from Ulysse Nardin. With this watch line, silicon made its way into haute horlogerie as a pioneering material.
With the new millennium, new materials found their way into the watchmaking cosmos. While brass, steel and synthetic ruby had dominated the production of mechanical movements for centuries, silicon, the basic material for microchips, became acceptable in 2001. Ulysse Nardin was at the forefront of this development with the Freak, where silicon components were used for the first time. This was followed by Patek Philippe, Rolex, Omega––you name it. Today, the material is practically state of the art, and not just in the high-price segment. Even »entry-level brands« such as Tissot––see Powermatic 80––offer corresponding calibers with components made of the non-magnetic and corrosion-resistant element. As far as design is concerned, there seem to be no limits. Ceramic can be used to conjure up the most beautiful colors on the wrist, while titanium and carbon make the timepiece robust and light as a feather. Microbrands such as MB&F go wild when it comes to watch design. Liquid time displays are also available, see HYT.
Not state of the art, but rather avant-garde: with the Horological Machine Nº11 Architect, the microbrand MB&F shows what is possible in watch design if you are not bound by tradition.
Ultimately, all of this shows that the wristwatch has always moved between different areas of tension: between tradition and innovation, between function and aesthetics, between craftsmanship and high-tech. There is also a dash of emotion. It seems to be a deeply human need to know the time »to own it, to keep it«, as Daryn Schnipper puts it. It is a desire that never grows old. How else can we explain why so many people are so enthusiastic about the good old mechanical watch in the age of the smartwatch and the ubiquitous availability of time information? It is itself state of the art, a cultural asset.
